2013 Audi A3

BMW hands out flyers to employees telling them to buy its cars

 
3 2,871 views Jun 17, 2009

“What’s wrong here? You like working with us. You appreciate your job. But you drive a vehicle from a competitor?”

“What’s wrong here? You like working with us. You appreciate your job. But you drive a vehicle from a competitor?”

Enlarge Photo
BMW may be topping the luxury sales charts here in the U.S. but over in Germany things aren’t so peachy and the automaker is resorting to some drastic actions to help boost its sales. At a number of its German factory parking lots, the automaker has attached more than 7,000 cards requesting employees who don’t already own a BMW to consider buying one.

As odd as it sounds, the information was confirmed to Bloomberg by BMW spokesman Alexander Bilgeri. The effort is the first of its kind in a three-decade marketing program to employees and is designed to raise awareness among the factory workers that they too are an important part of the company. Bilgeri was quick to point out that no one would be losing their job because they didn’t drive a BMW.

“What’s wrong here? You like working with us. You appreciate your job and income. But you drive a vehicle from a competitor,” read the cards signed by Ian Robertson, the company’s sales chief, Harald Krueger, BMW’s head of personnel, and Manfred Schoch, its top union representative.

Government incentives and vehicle scrapping schemes in Germany haven’t helped luxury automakers like BMW and Mercedes Benz as they have pushed towards cheaper models made by other brands. Sales for the BMW Group, which includes BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce, are down 21% for the first five months of the year, totalling roughly 488,000 vehicles.



Tags:
Posted in:
 
Contribute
Send us a tip Comment Contact the editor
Follow Us

 

Have an opinion?Join the conversation!

  • Posting indicates you have read this site's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
  • Notify me when there are more comments
Comments (3)

  1. ma_HECTOR avatar HECTOR Posted: 6/18/2009 3:34am PDT

    Perhaps those 7000 people are as disgusted as many other motorheads at BMW's whoring of its brand name. And also, let's face it, BMW cars are overpriced.

    So put these two things together and many of those workers don't want to buy $30000 metrosexual tool mobiles like the 1 series but prefer instead to get an Open or a VW.

    Build them right, price them sensibly and they will sell. Don't try to push them onto your employees.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  2. ma_Jim avatar Jim Posted: 6/18/2009 5:33am PDT

    The evaporation of wealth that has occurred in the last year is the biggest reason BMW is suffering and that will not change soon. BMW and other near luxury and luxury brands that require volume to be profitable have allowed pricing to outstrip value.

    In 1967, the equivalent of the 3 Series, the 2002 cost $2,700, indexed only for inflation the 3 should be around $17,500. Even if we allow $5-8K for technology and appointment differences, the cost today of 3, over $40K is out of whack. Due to the amount of money sloshing around the economy, BMW and others, priced to what the market would bear. Now they are paying for wealth and income have readjusted to historical norms and not those of the last 20 years.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  3. By  vitamin a Posted: 12/16/2009 11:41pm PST

    My father and I used to test drive cars on the weekend. My family was fairly well off, but my dad saw it as a waste of money to buy a really nice car. But he still liked really nice cars. We drove an Audi TT convertible, and Mini Cooper and a few others. We would always park a little bit away so that they wouldn't see our old 1992 Oldsmobile. BMW was the only dealership that was short with us and wouldn't let my dad take out the car he wanted. Funny cause the dealer nearest us is joined with the Audi dealer where we had no problems.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

 

Have an opinion?Join the conversation!

Connect with Facebook

Motor Authority. Now with your friends.

Discover stories your friends read.
Share stories more easily.
You control what you share.
Learn more

Research New Cars

Go!


More from High Gear Media

 
 
MotorAuthority
  • Follow Us
  • Twiiter
  • Facebook
 
 
© 2011 MotorAuthority. All Rights Reserved. MotorAuthority is published by High Gear Media. Stock photography by Homestar, LLC. Send us feedback.