BMW beats Mercedes-Benz to claim first U.S. luxury sales crown

[Alan Smithee]

Originally Posted by Price

I somewhat agree, although while the segment BMW/Merc/etc position themselves is called "luxury", in reality it's more of a "premium", or "upscale", rather that "exclusive", so the risk of diluting the brand is not as high as for, say, Aston Martin brand (regrdless whether AM are trully great cars or not). And yes, BMWs incentives have been always huge, the subsidised leases alone contribute greatly.

Discounted new purchases/leases combined with an increasing flood of lease returns is a double-whammy for re-sale values.

Add in the increasing amount of obsolescence and unreliability BMW is building into their cars, and the great strides the American and Korean manufacturers are making at lower price points, and their "premium" brand formula is not a sustainable one, IMO.

[BGM]

Originally Posted by Alan Smithee

Discounted new purchases/leases combined with an increasing flood of lease returns is a double-whammy for re-sale values.

Add in the increasing amount of obsolescence and unreliability BMW is building into their cars, and the great strides the American and Korean manufacturers are making at lower price points, and their "premium" brand formula is not a sustainable one, IMO.

1) BMW and Lexus have been discounting and are mainly leased but residuals are still strong. The used car market has also increased in demand with the "down" economy. So, they off-set any projected decline in residuals.

2) I know you aren't comparing a Kia to a BMW.