Taking a page from Detroit’s auto plant parking lots, BMW has been putting notices on employee vehicles built by competing firms, reports Bloomberg. “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 notices signed by Ian Robertson, the company’s sales chief; Harald Krueger, BMW’s head of personnel, and Manfred Schoch, its top union representative. Some 7,000 German employees of BMW received the friendly reminders. “We wanted to raise awareness that our employees are part of the product and could actually drive BMW,” said Bilgeri. “It’s a totally normal marketing program.” Except that this is the first time BMW has ever targeted employee owners of competing brands in twenty years of marketing to its employees. BMW employees need not worry that their choice of cars will leave them out of a job, clarifies Hans Haumer, head of BMW’s Munich worker’s council. This is more of a guilt trip.
I wonder if the notices were placed on every non-BMW vehicle, or only on those that were truly competitors. The three Detroit manufacturers offer products to fit nearly any budget; BMW, not so much.
The picture explains the entire problem. It’s a rare shot of the legendary German virgin girls who assemble BMWs – thus making the cars so expensive.
Therefore we can conclude:
Even THEY can’t afford BMW’s….
Nice, I’ve always wanted a 318i with no options.
@Samir :
Nice, I’ve always wanted a 318i with no options.
Quit complaining dude, it smokes my 316i
If you choose not to drive a BMW, perhaps you would like to take a nice refreshing shower instead? Hmmm? Yes?
Instead of guilt tripping their employees, why don’t they try to find out why they are driving something other than a BMW. Maybe they’ll learn something they can use to improve their product.
The same goes for domestics and any other auto manufacturer.
“Our least expensive model costs €28,000. I’m driving an Opel Rekord that’s held together with duct tape and chewing gum. I know this economy isn’t the best time to be talking about salary, but… just saying.”
So what do they slap on the windshield of an employee driving a pickup truck?
If it carries over to the Carolina plant that would be 50% of the cars in the parking lot
Henry Ford did this by making sure the employees could buy his cars. Of Course, his cars were much more accessible for the working class.
I love my BMW, but “budget” and “cheap” are not part of the ownership experience.
If I worked for the Werke, as an assembly line worker, what could I buy, save that stripper and not ready for the USA four cylinder 3 series ? This sounds like it was a great idea in the executive suite, where they probably get cars as part of the job compensation…
So, who does BMW see as “a competitor?”
If I worked for the Werke, as an assembly line worker, what could I buy, save that stripper and not ready for the USA four cylinder 3 series ?
I have a friend who works for VW in Wolfsberg and they can lease VWs for 1% of the value per month. I know Porsche does the same.
Assuming BMW does the same, I’m certain that all IG Metal represented BMW factory workers can afford the equivalent of $280 to $350 a month to lease a decent 3-Series.
So what do they slap on the windshield of an employee driving a pickup truck?
An invitation to a sneak preview of the upcoming X6 Utility Variant?
So, who does BMW see as “a competitor?”
These days? Everybody.
If I worked for the Werke, as an assembly line worker, what could I buy, save that stripper and not ready for the USA four cylinder 3 series ?
Don’t forget the 116i and 116d hatchbacks. 0-62mph in 10.3 seconds and 116 hp. Not what people in the USA think of when they think of BMW, of course, and by BMW’s intention.
Actually, BMW has such a good employee purchase program (in Germany at least, don’t know about the US) that they have a problem with workers purchasing cars and flipping them for a nice profit.
I bet they’d find a lot of those VW’s in the parking lot are owned by people who bought a BMW a few months ago!
i’d like to see how realistic the pricing is of an avg. BMW (eg. 320i) for an avg. BMW employee
i am reminded of the time i dropped my dad’s Merc off to for servicing… the lower end personnel there all drove Japanese cars and used Japanese vans for parts/company use given the staff recognised that Mercedes was not for everyone and certainly not for the average man’s wage.
So working at BMW means you are somehow obligated to buy one? Fine, offer them at half price to the workers.
While we are at it, let’s take a look at all the products the execs buy that might not be BMW. How about boats with Volvo engines. Can’t buy a BMW boat engine, then do without.
I work next door to BMW corporate offices in northern NJ and know that BMW employees get excellent lease terms on BMW vehicles so there seems to be little reason to drive anything other than a bimmer unless you need a minivan or full size truck. I laugh to myself every morning as I exit the highway with streams 3, 5 and 7 series vehicles. To top it off, Mercedes has an office 1 mile away.
The only interesting thing about working next to these places is that I see all of the mule vehicles at the local eateries and driving around on the roads months before general release.
Is this part of the “Buy Bavarian” campaign?
My friend’s father works for BMW’s headquarters in NJ and they offer very attractive leases on their vehicles. He gets a new 3 series every 6 months and I think the leases are about $150-$200 a month.
When the X3 was first released and wasn’t selling in the numbers BMW had hoped for they made the employees who were leasing 3 series cars lease the X3 to get more of them on the road. He went back to the 3 series after that lease was up very quickly.
Verbal,
Your comment was tasteless and probably insulting to many people…But I laughed so hard the guy next door wanted to see what all the commotion was about.
I’m certain that all IG Metal represented BMW factory workers can afford the EUR280 to EUR350 a month to lease a decent 3-Series.
That is like $380 — $480. I could understand driving something cheaper, especially if it is paid for.
When I toured BMW’s Spartanburg plant recently, I noticed a huge number of MINIs in the parking lot. I commented on that and was told that the employees received a very attractive lease offer.
Robert,
I was thinking of USD to EUR at Purchasing Power Parity – so more of a 1 to 1 relationship.
As you know it’s hard to convert prices in Europe to those in the US, due to the vagaries of taxes, exchange rates, etc. With that in mind I edited my post for clarity sake.
What happens if you are leasing a bmw on one of the employee special leases & you are fired. Does your rate jump? Is the lease terminated?
Jonathan I. Locker : Your comment was tasteless and probably insulting to many people…But I laughed so hard the guy next door wanted to see what all the commotion was about.
Being of primarily German ancestry, I feel that I have special dispensation when making jokes at their expense. Glad I could liven up your day.
I think its a wonderfull idea. If BMW is cutting the employees a good deal,they shoud be driving BMW.
In 1972 when I started at GM Oshawa you might see an older Ford or Dodge in the parking lot. You wouldn’t dare show up with a new one.It just makes sense. Driving non GM tells the rest of the world,that you might have some inside info. In the sixties and seventies the older guys woudn’t let you park a non GM in thier driveway.
By the time I retired in 2008,you would see new Honda’s Toyota’s the odd BMW, quite a few Mustangs. GM and the CAW considered banning them but it wasn’t politcaly correct.
If on a real cold night if your car woudn’t start somebody would always give you boost. A VW diesel sat in the parking lot for 2 days nobody would help him. I’ve heard of guys throwing bread on to the hoods and roofs of imports. Seagulls you gott’a love em.
GM provided me and my family with wonderfull life,and they still do.As long as I’m driving I will always buy GM.
@verbal as nasty as your comment was, I still had to chuckle…your bad dude.
Remember something similar years ago when I first starting working for an automotive parts supplier. I drove to my first business trip (then to a St. Louis GM facility)…unfortunately, I was in the possession of my sister’s then-new 1989 Honda CRX Si. A counterpart of mine met me at a hotel in the morning and politely informed me to keep the CRX parked at the hotel, else I come out of the parking lot to find it, ummm…modified.
Sad to see that BMW is taking this stance now, as even with decent lease rates, it might well still be ouot of the range of many employees to own one.
What’s wrong here? You like working with us. You appreciate your job and income. But you drive a vehicle from a competitor
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That’s definitely BS.
That income is not a gift. It’s exchanging the worker’s labor.
If you want more than labor from the worker, either you write it in the labor contract. Or, make your cars more appealing and affordable.
mikey :
June 18th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
I think its a wonderfull idea. If BMW is cutting the employees a good deal,they shoud be driving BMW.
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That’s a flawed logic. How do you define “good deal?” $300/month? $100/month? Or call God and ask him?
Ultimately, in a free world, good deal = he will choose to buy at free will. If he doesn’t choose to buy, it’s not good enough deal for him.
In a dictatorship, though, good deal = whatever deal your CEO/president/chairman forces on recommends you.
My opinion of BMW just dropped several basis points.
Robstar :
June 18th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
What happens if you are leasing a bmw on one of the employee special leases & you are fired. Does your rate jump? Is the lease terminated?
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According to this article, they will probably lay off the ones that don’t buy/lease a BMW first.
Those ‘good old days’ are truly gone when driving a competitor’s only got you a worse parking spot in employee parking.
Automakers can make it easy or difficult for their employees to own their cars; if they’re “targeting” non-BMW owner employees, what happens when they pull the trigger?
“Terribly sorry, but my BMW is currently in for repairs, where it has been for three out of the past four weeks. I have been forced to drive my second car instead.”
cnpota: “Those ‘good old days’ are truly gone when driving a competitor’s only got you a worse parking spot in employee parking.”
You mean the ‘good old days’ where driving a foreign car at a Ford/GM/Chrysler plant was an invitation to get your windows smashed, tires slashed, and paint job keyed? Oh lawdz was them the times.
Loyalty is obviously one of those quaint, outdated concepts we’ve grown out of, thank god. How dare anyone expect even the least little bit of it.
Can’t afford a BMW? Get a BMW Group product – a MINI. People very rarely own/need pick-up truck in Europe. As for vans, most drive Touring (in BMW speak) or a hatchback. Plus X5 offers room for up to seven.
Wouldn’t it make more sense if the employees were driving the vehicles of competitors? Something along the lines of keeping your competitors closer?
# dkulmacz :
June 18th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Loyalty is obviously one of those quaint, outdated concepts we’ve grown out of, thank god. How dare anyone expect even the least little bit of it.
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This has nothing to do with loyalty.
BMW hired these people to do work. So loyalty should be based on the quality of work they do. For example, a loyal worker would do his best to push that body panel all the way in. A not so loyal worker may steal intellectual properties and sell them.
But in any case, that loyalty (or lack of it) has nothing to do with what car the workers drive. That’s not part of the work contract.
A question:
What car should a “loyal” Rolls Royce line worker drive?
Old crazy Henry did get angry if he saw any of his employees driving something other than a Ford, but at least his cars were affordable by practically anyone with a good job. When visiting the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum I learned the Auburn factory started assembly operations for the upcoming model year in the summer, and when they’d built as many cars as the company thought it would sell that year, the workers were laid off. That typically meant about six months of work. None of the workers who built Auburns could afford to buy one.
Well, that wasn’t the case at GM the past half-century. UAW workers were at the top of the blue collar world; management pay was startling. New cars were heavily discounted for the former; free for the latter. Both groups were unable to admit that for most ordinary Americans a good new car was tough to afford, plus having–often–to fix the thing could break the bank. Why should we be loyal to that business model? We bought Corollas and Accords, and tried to avoid parking near a UAW Local’s office.
@PeregrineFalcon
You mean the ‘good old days’ where driving a foreign car at a Ford/GM/Chrysler plant was an invitation to get your windows smashed, tires slashed, and paint job keyed? Oh lawdz was them the times.
LOL. That was the reality of it I’m sure. The St. Paul Ford Ranger plant held that parking policy, from what I gather, up until the day it closed.
BMW builds the best cars in the world, period. They have diesel versions and 4-cyl versions and Minis that people can afford. Im sure they give a discount to employees. In general, if you arent driving a BMW, whats wrong with you? but more specifically, if you are in germany AND you work for BMW… something IS wrong with you.
Also… you can get a used one if the new is still out of your price range.
Imagine an employee for an oil company such as Exxon-Mobil or Shell having his car’s fuel checked by his company and then being asked to explain himself if he is found with a tank full of Texaco or BP.
It’s none of BMW’s business what an employee uses to get to work. I wonder what they ask you if you cycle to the factory or if there is a flyer posted on the bus-stop.
I remember VW doing a similar thing in their parking lots in Hannover a few years back (don’t know if they did it in Wolfsburg as well) – and the Workers Council and the IG Metall were up in flames about “intervening in the free will of the workers”, that buying the car they want is part of their freedom, that no company has the right to even suggest to an employee what to do or buy in their own free time, etc…
IIRC the campaign (flyers were put under the wipers of all “enemy” cars) had to be aborted, and there were even talks about distributing “We’re Sorry, buy whatever you want” flyers. Don’t think that happened though…
If BMW is doing this with the approval of the workers council (and the signature of the union), it probably tells you something about their current state of affairs… ;)
This isn’t a Rolls Royce facility, and obviously employees at Gulfstream are not required to buy jets. I’m giving these folks the benefit of the doubt re intelligence, and assuming they placed the notes knowing they had a competitive product, affordable by the target.
But to the overall point . . .
It’s your right to buy whatever you want, regardless of where you work.
However . . . if Bob works at Company A but chooses to purchase the products of Competitor B, then I assert my god-given right to believe that Bob is something of an a-hole.
Also . . . if I too worked at Company A, I would *not* want Bob on any of my teams. I could only infer that he would gladly stab me in the back to benefit himself, since self-interest is obviously one of his highest priorities. I couldn’t help but question his overall character. Why continue to be part of an organization that you feel is inferior? You obviously cannot have any job satisfaction contributing to an also-ran, so why stay? Get the F’ out, and good riddance.
If I worked at a company but found their products to be unworthy of using myself — and therefore found myself compelled to purchase the competition — I would disassociate myself with the company. I would quit. Otherwise I couldn’t face myself every morning.
@Fusion . . . thanks for the info, it’s refreshing to see so many of the “B&B” in agreement with their union brothers.
i find that attitude to be quite inappropriate
eg. I could happily work for Ford’s F150 truck division but I would actually have no personal desire to own such a vehicle – I believe that such a vehicle should exist and there’s vibrant market for said vehicle… just not in my driveway
does anyone actually believe that everyone involved in the car industry are actually ‘car people’?
so unless the company makes it extremely attractive for me to own their vehicle i don’t see the point
whatever i spend my money on is my business
it is your business and your ‘business’ should be that you have a vested interest in the company you are working for’s success. You will contribute to your own own salary, raise, bonus by giving the company that one additional sale (or being an advocate of the company for even more sales).
Car companies need every unit they can sell. As long as its feasible for you to do so, you should support the company you work for. Their business is ultimately your business.
BMW: “What’s Wrong Here?”…
For a minute there, I thought that this was about the widespread subframe/unit body failures that plague E46 models…
There’s no good way for BMW to spin this story. It comes off at best like neurotic behaviour; at worst, they look weak.
I was just reading how BMW Canada is losing market share to Mercedes.
They’re whining about how MB is selling cars at unprofitable prices or financing with cut-rate deals. Nothing wrong with buying market share if you ask me. That and they’ve got no counter to the B-class which is really doing well.
I’m not sure how things are going State-side, but they’re starting to sweat up here.
I don’t see why this is such a big deal.
I mean, for years Car and Driver and Edmunds: Inside Line have required all employees to own a BMW.
I don’t see why this is such a big deal.
I mean, for years Car and Driver and Edmunds: Inside Line have required all employees to own a BMW.
Yes, but they get the car for free.
Maybe they don’t care for the plain stark exterior styling that Bangle ruined earlier this decade or maybe there priced are too high or the quality with all the silly gadgets scares people such as the rediculous i-drive. Oh and I can also remember hearing a ton of complaints of the terrible cup holders. If you want to make a car compete today it has to have decent set of cup holders.
Perhaps the employees that don’t drive the BMW’s simply don’t want to look like D-bags?
Let’s look at this another way– if I’m BMW do I really want all of my low and middle income employees driving around in BMW’s? If you want to project an image of luxury, refinement, exclusivity, what does it say about your cars if a bunch of blue collar workers (even your own) are driving them? And I mean this with all due respect to blue-collar workers.
One of the things that pushes BMW and other luxury nameplates down a bit in my eyes is that nowadays, everyone drives a “luxury” car, teachers, fast food workers, secretaries, lower management, semi-employed, wanna-be’s etc. Just about anybody can purchase them (notice I didn’t say can afford them).
Owning a BMW should be something they want the public to want to aspire to achieving, if the roads are filled with them, then what’s so special about owning a BMW?