So if BMW is pounding out 3,000+ X5s per month (sales figures for November were about 3,200 and I'm assuming they're not building up too much inventory) and working 2 shifts 25 days per month (I'm guessing), it suggests that they have about 8 vehicles per hour coming off the line. If the line has 40 stations (also a guess), it suggests the vehicle is actually on the line for about 5 hours. Round that up to 1 day. It takes a truck no more than 5 days to get from South Carolina to anywhere in the continental US and most of Canada. Give the dealer 1 day to unwrap and clean the car and you have no more than 7 days of value (5 being transport) in getting an ordered vehicle to a customer.

I realize I'm simplifying and ignoring many steps, but with an average wait time of 28 days, at least 75% of that time is muda. An auto OEM that can figure out how to squeeze this time out of the process might have a decent advantage.

Sorry...these are the idle thoughts of someone with a just-placed order waiting impatiently to have some fun with the vehicle like the rest of you...