BMW Group is planning a radical change in the way it sells new vehicles on the European continent. The automaker will introduce a direct-sale model in the next few years, which should make the process of buying a new BMW or a new Mini more transparent and easier for the customer. That doesn’t mean there won’t be dealerships involved, however – and BMW Group’s sales and marketing director Pieter Nota recently provided more information on how the new approach will work.
BMW calls this new way of selling cars an agency model. Under this strategy, BMW will invoice customers directly and the dealerships will receive a fixed fee for each sale - and customers will get the same prices everywhere the new sales model operates. The company believes this new method will benefit all three sides involved in the process of buying a new vehicle. BMW also says there has been a misunderstanding regarding the way this new sales process works.
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But when does this new experience will begin? BMW Group will pioneer it with the Mini brand in 2024, followed by the BMW brand about two years later. For now, this agency model will be applied only to the European markets with no word regarding whether BMW will also implement this business practice in the United States.
“We will improve the customer experience and provide an attractive business model for our agents, and at the same time gain direct access to the customer. Those are the three most important aspects in our plans,” Pieter Nota told Automotive News in a recent interview.
Mini, BMW Group’s UK-based brand for small vehicles, is already preparing for the new agency model. Nota told the online publication, however, the marque isn’t a guinea pig “that we could do then do better at BMW two years later.” The new structures and the IT development that will support this major change are already “very far along” and it seems that there’s no turning back – like it or not, BMW will soon sell you a brand new BMW or Mini at a fixed price and will pay its dealers a commission for every deal. Doesn't sound bad, right?
