[StevenX94]

Hi,

I am following the M340i prices here for some time now for maybe buying one.
Since Covid started the car market here had about 15 or so of them listed. It has been about 4 months now and none have sold, also none price dropped.

I dont understand, why are companies not trying to sell them by dropping the price a bit? Its a very slow seller here, even slower now in Corona times because people are scared to invest this much. Are dealers just going to keep and wait like this or try to sell by lowering the price?

I know that BMW officially have not lowered the price, but how is it in the other countries local car markets?

[mf44]

I cannot speak to the situation in Sweden or in the EU in general. However, in the US car prices have not dropped; if anything we have seen a bump in prices. Simply put, supply has greatly diminished because factories have been closed for 2+ months. Any dip in demand, if any, (and so far, there has not been a dip in demand in the USA), is more than offset by the greatly constrained supply.

[StevenX94]

Originally Posted by mf44

I cannot speak to the situation in Sweden or in the EU in general. However, in the US car prices have not dropped; if anything we have seen a bump in prices. Simply put, supply has greatly diminished because factories have been closed for 2+ months. Any dip in demand, if any, (and so far, there has not been a dip in demand in the USA), is more than offset by the greatly constrained supply.

Ah I get you. It is a little surprising to hear that you guys have not had a dip in demand. Many here are scared of big investments due to not knowing how the economical situation will be. Thats why many are waiting.
I feel like dozens of new cars are lying around in the dealerships without buyers.

[mf44]

Originally Posted by StevenX94

Ah I get you. It is a little surprising to hear that you guys have not had a dip in demand. Many here are scared of big investments due to not knowing how the economical situation will be. Thats why many are waiting.
I feel like dozens of new cars are lying around in the dealerships without buyers.

Yes, I agree, the continued demand is a bit surprising. My guess is it's because of several factors: (1) a $1200 stimulus check put a bit of cash in people's pockets, (2) there is an additional $600/wk for unemployment (though this is not forever), (3) people can't fly or take big trips so they want to do road trips with a new cars, and (4) a lot of people have been shopping for cars, thinking there are great deals to be had. But they fall in love with a car and buy it, even though the deals aren't very good. No matter the reason, though, there still continues to be demand for cars here.

[dchar]

Went to the dealer last month to test drive a M340i. The BMW dealer was bustling with customers and the salesman told me they have gotten busier since March. My guess is that most people who can afford a BMW aren't impacted too much financially by COVID compared to mainstream car brand customers. Most probably have enough to move on to a new lease as their current lease ends. That's where the high demand and low supply trend comes in.

[Takumi587]

Just picked up a BSM M340i retired loaner with 2700 miles. 61k optioned and discounted to 47k. Great deals right now. 3 months ago I was about to get a 330i with less options and for the same price. However, they were unable to get me the same deal on a brand new M340i. Most discount was 8-9%. This was for a lease btw.

[wtwo3]

There are other factors at play as well. In the US manufacturers are advertising things like little to no interest and deferred payments for 90 days to help maintain demand. Overall demand has seen a dip, however supply has seen a significantly larger dip. Supply was literally halted for some time as plants were shut down.

So a slight dip in demand but a larger dip in supply has translated into deals remaining largely the same or even worse during covid.

[StevenX94]

Hmm...sounds like nothing of the deals that I was thinking of would be happening then whatsoever. I really didnt think of the supply dip to be that big, but seems to unfortunatly be as many of you are saying.

[well4eva]

Checked with dealer today, they are also a bit surprised that there were no much price or package update from the company, but new pricing might come on 1 July. so far the rebates are normal from 5%-10% for regular version.

[hans007]

Originally Posted by mf44

Yes, I agree, the continued demand is a bit surprising. My guess is it's because of several factors: (1) a $1200 stimulus check put a bit of cash in people's pockets, (2) there is an additional $600/wk for unemployment (though this is not forever), (3) people can't fly or take big trips so they want to do road trips with a new cars, and (4) a lot of people have been shopping for cars, thinking there are great deals to be had. But they fall in love with a car and buy it, even though the deals aren't very good. No matter the reason, though, there still continues to be demand for cars here.

It seems honestly like theres more demand now. With 1% rates etc. Plus I think a lot of people at least are considering driving over trains etc, given how much covid spreads in trains or buses.

Maybe not for luxury cars, but I think car demand in general seems weirdly up. I know a couple people who the low rates were just what pushed them over the edge to buy cars

[well4eva]

Originally Posted by StevenX94

Hmm...sounds like nothing of the deals that I was thinking of would be happening then whatsoever. I really didnt think of the supply dip to be that big, but seems to unfortunatly be as many of you are saying.

looks like in Sweden BMW even increased price a litte across all 3 series in their new pricing guideline from 1 July

[StevenX94]

Originally Posted by well4eva

looks like in Sweden BMW even increased price a litte across all 3 series in their new pricing guideline from 1 July

Yepp, saw the prices now. Not good not good.....

[LOW4LYF]

Originally Posted by mf44

Yes, I agree, the continued demand is a bit surprising. My guess is it's because of several factors: (1) a $1200 stimulus check put a bit of cash in people's pockets, (2) there is an additional $600/wk for unemployment (though this is not forever), (3) people can't fly or take big trips so they want to do road trips with a new cars, and (4) a lot of people have been shopping for cars, thinking there are great deals to be had. But they fall in love with a car and buy it, even though the deals aren't very good. No matter the reason, though, there still continues to be demand for cars here.

Correct. Some people are sitting at home and having more money as before the pandamic.

Dealerships are short on cars.

[G333]

For sure prices will not go down, since was lunched so much free/printed money which will rise inflation.

[Don76]

It's almost like the perfect storm at the moment.
Lenders are nervous, so finance is not so easy to get. There is also a fear that residual values will be lower than previously thought. This means lease deals will be more on the monthly payment.

Speaking to one BMW dealer in UK, he normally would see 80% of customers be accepted on finance. Now it's less than 30%.

All of this means they have to make more margin from the lower volume of sales.

Doesn't seem like a good time to buy

[MD707]

I think the country specific markets are going to differ greatly on this. And don't forget the factories shut down and they stopped physically making cars, so supply is probably not that vast once they've sold the existing stock.

In the UK, you generally can always negotiate 10-18% off a big engined BMW. List on the M340 with a good spec is early £50ks - but you can get it to early £40ks with little bother. To me it makes a 320D or 330e seem expensive, as the discounts on those are not quite as good. And I guess there is a floor price after which giving it away isn't worth it.

Again UK specific but end of line, well specced pre registered M4 Comps hover around the £45k mark, which is good for a £65-£70k car. The M2 Comp seems to be hard to shift too, dealer was offering £999 down and 48x£499 a month for a while. That's a lot of car for that money. I believe that's the deal Chris Harris picked up, hes planning to do 100k miles in it according to Instagram

[NorCalAthlete]

Originally Posted by G21-M340i

I think the country specific markets are going to differ greatly on this. And don't forget the factories shut down and they stopped physically making cars, so supply is probably not that vast once they've sold the existing stock.

In the UK, you generally can always negotiate 10-18% off a big engined BMW. List on the M340 with a good spec is early £50ks - but you can get it to early £40ks with little bother. To me it makes a 320D or 330e seem expensive, as the discounts on those are not quite as good. And I guess there is a floor price after which giving it away isn't worth it.

Again UK specific but end of line, well specced pre registered M4 Comps hover around the £45k mark, which is good for a £65-£70k car. The M2 Comp seems to be hard to shift too, dealer was offering £999 down and 48x£499 a month for a while. That's a lot of car for that money. I believe that's the deal Chris Harris picked up, hes planning to do 100k miles in it according to Instagram

According to google, £45,000 is ~$56,800.

It costs ~$1,000-$1,500 to ship a car from the UK to the US.

Considering the M4 is around $70k+ in the US, you'd be saving ~$12k or so by ordering one to the UK and then shipping it yourself. And that's a regular M4 not an M4 competition. What the fuck. There's gotta be more to this.

[MD707]

Always used to be the other way around. We can thank the GBP plumetting against the USD I guess 😀but it’s not as easy as it sounds. Import and export taxes, state taxes, local taxes, you’d need a factory order as you want LHD...and it’ll have the wrong headlights, no side markers, the wrong mirrors, wrong gauge cluster...etc etc