U.S. automakers aren't the only ones struggling to keep their costs in line. BMW needs to shed 8100 "excess" employees to achieve their planned 500 million Euro cost-savings. Automotive News' [sub] sources vary on how many workers have signed ominously named "termination agreements." BMW claims 5k workers have left the building. Other analysts claim that just over a thousand BMW workers chose to put an "ex" in front of their job description. Further complicating Bimmer's best laid plan to trim expenditure: raw material costs just keep on a rising. We told you a few days ago how the price of steel has doubled. That's going to hit companies like BMW hard, as their cars weigh so damn much. Meanwhile, BMW's lucrative American pie ain't sweet like it once was. The dollar is down, gas prices are ridiculous, and U.S. consumers aren't buying as many cars as they once were. It may not be the ultimate headache, but put it all together and it's got to hurt.
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I guess that they will have to start making cars that I actually want to buy.
Let’s start with a 1 series that weighs less then 3800 damn pounds.
Holly product bloat Batman!
I did not realize that the 3 & 1 models had such a
weight problem.
Does anyone know where these job losses came from? It’s been kept well under the radar.
As far as I know, Mini haven’t lost anyone. Nothing in the news here.
Mind you, they DID say they had to achieve a €500 million euro saving. Maybe they did most of that with redesigned cars (like less steel)?
It does look like belt tightening will be needed at BMW. But, they are such a cash rich company, I’m sure they can weather the storm, until the market picks up.
Those $7,000 BMW badges must be catching up with them.
TOO BAD
Maybe they will have to come up with a new 2002
God knows they have the cheap labor and expertise…
But would they really want ‘common folks’ driving a BMW???
must be a big question for them.
Hey, they could solve two problems at once if they just laid off the entire iDrive division.
If BMW had imported the 3 & 5 door 1-series (the A3 look-alikes), they’d have 3300lb cars, not 3800 lb cars.
The most obvious sign of trouble so far has been pricing, lease rates, and U.S. allocation of the 1-series. The “2002 sucessor” hype faded as soon as the curb weight was released and the wave of enthusiasts (rubes) who had to have the smaller, just-as-fat-as-a-3-series is quickly ebbing. Which means there are going to be a lot of optioned-up little porkers sitting on dealer lots waiting for BMW to pony up some trunk money a la the Z4M.
Also sounds like the new M3 isn’t faring very well against MB’s C63 AMG, although Car & Driver is doing everything in their power to shore up sales with bogus comparos. Gotta preserve that “Ultimate Driving Machine” status quo…
BMW is in a bad strategic position. It sells overpowered, overweight, I-drive equipped cars to people who want to appear wealthy and agressive. Without high volume mid-market platforms to spin the high end versions off of they are at a distinct cost disadvantage to Audi, Fiat Group, Lexus, Infiniti and even the French (depending which geographic market you are looking at).
The corporate arrogance and endless internal turf wars don’t do the company any good either. Of all their products, the only one well positioned for this time is the Mini, and it is hampered by minimal distribution. Recently we were in Austin, Texas and wanted to see the Mini Clubman. Checking out the almost impossible to use Mini website I found that the nearest dealer was well over an hour away in San Antonio. Austin is one of the most happening and growing cities in the US today (hey, last year their real estate values went up!), but Mini isn’t there. That makes it a pretentious niche product. BMW is in more trouble than they realize.
BMWs problem is soley in Design. I have owned 3 BMWs and drive a Z4Mcoupe (which i truly love) however there is NO OTHER BMW at ANY PRICE POINT to me (and I ma a fan boy) that I “gotta have”.
The 3 sedan looks like it needs to be in the oven a little longer- the 3 coupe is nice but at 50k aint cheap and I have to have the damn sunroof that really cuts the headroom- the 1 is just wierd- could ahve been really cool, yes nees to be a little lighter (a 240 hp 4 cylinder with a turbo?) the 5 looks Japanese adn the 6 is just wayyy to big and bloated (but I do like th elooks of that one but cant afford the 70k not a mainstream car at all.
And the interiors are bland and unispired- the E46 was simply PERFECT with its larger buttons and driver centric dashboard- Audi and even VW are much better. Whats with the little bitty stereo buttons?
And for the money you still get sound systems that suck worse than almost any other car.
My next car probably wont be a BMW
Ahh BMW, everyone’s favorite rhetorical punching bag these days.
Pity that Americans are known for their love of “muscle” cars. Other markets BMW engines start as low as a 2.0L 3, and a 1.6L 1. Those have become very popular with the gas price crunch these days.
8100 jobs is a big number to cut considering the entire company employs little over 100k jobs.
In my opinion it wasn’t unreported though, I have read many a story about this already, and I think BMW is making some mistakes here.
Since they are actually a premium brand (ie, not only calling themselves that but in fact being perceived as such by the public), their biggest asset is their brand value. Therefore, if there’s one thing they should not do, it’s cutting costs on materials, R&D etc (only jobs are mentioned here, but they intend to cut costs in general as well).
Their focus should solely be on creating products that are among the top of their class (in any class they want to compete in), so that people stay willing to pay a couple of Ks for the BMW badge in order to have a good product. If they loose that ability they are finished, and cost cutting is just what could take them there, which would be a sad day.
Unfortunately, Mr beancounter Reithofer doesn’t really seem to understand this, or more likely, has some alterior motives to tend to (as in; his short term pay checks).
Meanwhile, Autoweek reports that the X1 is a go. Lets hope this thing uses a lot of aluminum.
I just have to put this out there – I finally saw a 1-series in person.
Man that car looks dorky.
Not sure where you are getting your specs from but I have a 1 series car sitting in my drvieway and it weighs about 3300 pounds soaking wet(i’ve weighed it already). I’ll be switching over to normal sport tires and dumping the run flats and will probably save about another 50 to 100 pounds. considering the Honda Accord coupe is in the 3500 pound range I don’t think the BMW is doing doing too shabby.
I drove a Z3 and loved it. Wanted a Z4, but went with a Prius instead. Okay, I can’t explain that.
Well, in a way I can. When I made this decision four years ago, I had decided that I wanted a car that gets better gas mileage and shuts off the gasoline engine at traffic lights and during coasting.
Come on. It’s REALLY STUPID to keep running the engine at traffic lights. Rows and rows and rows of cars, all burning gasoline while STOPPED. I don’t care if shutting it off wouldn’t save a lot worldwide. It’s the principle of the matter to me. It’s just wasteful (and STUPID) to burn it when you’re at a standstill.
Anyhow, Prius (and now other Toyondas) shut off at stand stills, but nothing from BMW can do that.
All their lip-service to hyrdrogen aside, there’s no excuse for this foot-dragging. Make a two-seater with auto-stop, already!
BMW make a far better car that people on TTAC talk about.
ZoomZoom: you can use the start stop button (the one everybody complains about in BMW’s) to easily shut the engine off at long stop lights. The radio and other components don’t shut off either in the re-start process – a nice touch for those that use this on occasion.
BMW should start making cars with a GM or Toyota logo on them because TTAC would talk about how amazing the engineering is.
Plus, how many TTAC readers noticed the 3800 pound 1 series error on the first post and didn’t say anything???
Besides BMW are not heavy compared to their competitors. Car for car Audi/BMW/Mercedes are all in the same ballpark.