[Jason]

You lucky F10 owners so far

America's Hardest-To-Get Cars

Better be quick--these models leave the showroom in a hurry.

May was a good month for BMW. The German automaker reported 22,092 units sold last month, with total sales up 5% over the same time last year. It was BMW's best result so far this year, despite a year-to-date decline of almost 4%. Executives are optimistic about summer sales--particularly the prospects for the new 5 Series sedans.

"Sales are where we expected them to be," says Thomas Salkowsky, a spokesman for BMW North America. "We expect the new 5-Series to have a strong Q3 and Q4."

But it may be difficult to get your hands on one of these $49,600 sedans. BMW's 5-Series vehicles rank with the Subaru Legacy and Volkswagen GTI among the hardest-to-get cars in the U.S.

Behind the Numbers

To compile our list of hard-to-get cars, we used inventory data from Wards Auto, an automotive data and analysis firm based near Detroit. We calculated average day-supply rates of 2010 model-year vehicles for March, April and May to figure out, on average, just how quickly these cars leave the lot. (Day-supply rates are inventory numbers, divided by the daily selling rate that month.) Then we spoke with manufacturers to get a street-level sense of how long cars typically wait for buyers, since day supply data can fluctuate from month to month.

In compiling this list, we did not include exotic and super-luxury cars (think Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce, special-edition models, or models from discontinued brands like Saturn, which can be hard to find for reasons other than high demand. Instead, we exclusively considered cars (not trucks or SUVs) which are affected by other sales factors, and typically are produced in smaller numbers, with shorter day-supply rates.

via http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/auto...t-to-get-cars/

and

BILBAO, Spain (Bloomberg) -- BMW AG has sold out of the revamped 5-series sedan in all markets, forcing customers to wait three to four months for deliveries.

Second-quarter sales of the manufacturers' BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce vehicles are in line with the 14 percent gain in the first quarter, Ian Robertson, BMW's sales chief, said Wednesday at the Automotive News Europe Congress here.

“A lot of markets are performing well,” Robertson said. “Overall we're seeing good progress.”

BMW is focusing on raising profitability as Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz brand and Volkswagen AG's Audi luxury division step up efforts to take market share. The new 5-series shares as much as 70 percent of its technology with the top-of-the-line 7 series. The 5 series starts at $44,550 in the U.S., while the bigger 7 series starts at $70,150.

Robertson said BMW is sticking to its target of increasing vehicle sales by a high single-digit percentage.

The company said in May it intends to deliver at least 1.3 million cars and sport-utility vehicles this year after selling 1.29 million in 2009, its lowest full-year deliveries since 2004. BMW's sales through May gained 13 percent to 552,864 vehicles.

Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...#ixzz0rgmdqvB8

[Bluesummer]

seriously?!

[warmtoes]

Really? Then how come we hear of people get pretty decent discounts on new orders? Those two things don't seem to mesh.

[ddd269]

I'm glad I got mine when I did...

Chile got a shipment of about 80 F10s (mostly 523 and 528, very few 530d, 535 and 550) about 3 weeks ago. I paid for the car 2 weeks before the it got delivered. About 50 were sold before the delivery and the rest got sold out in a week.

I think the next shipment is about 2~3 months out. Don't know how many though.

It's funny but, they will loan me a 7 series while waiting for the car, but will not loan me a 5 series because of high demand... everybody wants to test drive one.

[scottz5]

Yeah try to find a 5 on a lot to buy? They are new thats why they are in short supply.

But the 7? Thats crazy my dealer must have 12 to 15 and a few M sport ones too.

[RichReg]

The reason why they're hard to get is because BMW doesn't send out a lot of them for dealer inventories. In an economic cycle like the one we're in now, manufacturers will CUT production.

Sure, those people that order them will go through the usual waiting time and cut their usual deals. But those looking out for what's ALREADY been built (or still in the pipeline) are the ones that will be strapped for choices right now.

[Whistler]

Which is harder to get- BWM F10 or Apple iPhone 4? Consider me lucky- took delivery of my F10 last week and UPS delivered my iPhone today!

[Oulixes]

The news is yet another and not terribly original way how to sell more cars.

[MI6]

Originally Posted by Oulixes

The news is yet another and not terribly original way how to sell more cars.

+1000

While the F10 is a good car, it's not some hot, exclusive model that everyone wants as much as it is one that is just ramping up production in all markets where there hasn't been ANY 5er's built for a while, so naturally there's a build up of orders that is outstripping supply.......

[rickradian]

I'm calling this out as major BS...

I counted 25+ F10's in stock at Crevier BMW.

http://www.crevierbmw.com/new-invent...s?pageNumber=1

[kinan_sleiman2006]

Really????????????

[Nater]

Originally Posted by rickradian

I'm calling this out as major BS...

I counted 25+ F10's in stock at Crevier BMW.

http://www.crevierbmw.com/new-invent...s?pageNumber=1

Just because they show them on the website does not mean that they actually physically have them. It is very common and lucrative for dealers to show cars on their website before they actually physically have them, this way they can generate interest and hopefully gain a few presales off of incoming units. Also notice the fact that none of the cars have any actual pictures and they list a 528i in inventory which everyone knows has not even been released yet and will not be until late summer, early fall.

[MDyDinanM]

I'm in no hurry to get one

people seem to forget that usually first year models have issues, and it isn't until as the model matures in it's life cycle the issues get worked out.

Secondly, it isn't until later versions of the same model that BMW enhances it models with a LCI and upgrades. They did that with the e46 3 series, e39 5 series, e60s, e9x, etc.

So I for one, would rather wait, and look forward to hearing all the complaints about the first year model issues...

[bigshug1]

Dealers are allotted a certain amount of cars...period. From there, they can hope to either trade other dealers for a more desirable model (and most will hold cars hostage if they don't get a similar one in return), beg their sales rep for more vehicles or hope that customers will order a car through them and wait for it.
I worked at our local BMW dealership and because our town is so small and, relative to metropolitan area dealers, sell so few higher end cars - it became difficult to get cars at times...

[Solonng]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-0...it-months.html

[rickradian]

Originally Posted by Nater

Just because they show them on the website does not mean that they actually physically have them. It is very common and lucrative for dealers to show cars on their website before they actually physically have them, this way they can generate interest and hopefully gain a few presales off of incoming units. Also notice the fact that none of the cars have any actual pictures and they list a 528i in inventory which everyone knows has not even been released yet and will not be until late summer, early fall.

528i is a 2010 not an 2011. Crevier is the highest volume seller of BMW's in California. They would have a huge alotment of cars. I am going to the dealership today to check out the F10. I will let you know how many they truely have in stock.

[positiveions]

Well I was at BMW of Monrovia last week, visiting my friend in the internet department. They only had a handful; which means that they are being sold as the shipment arrives.

[TX535i]

Originally Posted by Nater

Just because they show them on the website does not mean that they actually physically have them. It is very common and lucrative for dealers to show cars on their website before they actually physically have them, this way they can generate interest and hopefully gain a few presales off of incoming units. Also notice the fact that none of the cars have any actual pictures and they list a 528i in inventory which everyone knows has not even been released yet and will not be until late summer, early fall.

I ordered my car, and the day it arrived at the dealer it showed up on their website as "available for sale", which was clearly not the case. I called immediately to make sure they weren't letting people sit in or drive my car. Their software automatically puts the cars on the site when they are received even if they are already sold. When people call to inquire, they tell them that the particular car they saw online isn't available, but come in and visit us and we can talk....

Another dealer here in Houston listst a lot of cars, but in they also give an ETA date for them since they aren't even on the lot yet.

[Boost Gomez]

Funny article, there are 3 or 4 2011 5ers sitting in my local dealer's showroom right now.

[gatoman39]

Originally Posted by Nater

Just because they show them on the website does not mean that they actually physically have them. It is very common and lucrative for dealers to show cars on their website before they actually physically have them, this way they can generate interest and hopefully gain a few presales off of incoming units.

This could not be more true. I went to Crevier last week after I saw a white one on their website. Before I left the salesman called me & said it's already sold. I was there last monday the 21st. The had about 8 535i and 6 550i.

If you start shopping for a 535i you will quickly discover what I did. That the car you want isn't in stock. The car has been ordered by dealers in 1 of 3 ways. In terms of content, low, medium and high. The low is about 55-59. The med 60-64k. high, 67-71k. Most people shoot for the med. It presents the best amount of content and value. The low is missing some key features, sport package and the seats & Dynamic Handling. The high has too much content and is expensive. The med (goldilocks model) all sold. So you are basically left with the base model, which most people aren't gonna wanna settle for. Or the high model which is starting to bump into 7 series territory. This then forces people to either wait, or order a car. It's kinda like going to a sale a Marshalls, a bunch of Smalls and XXL. All the Med & Large are gone. 550i's are a different story. For obvious reasons, they're a little easier to find.

[RedBarron]

The dealer here has had a 535I on the lot for about a month now. Maybe it's a ploy to get people to go to their dealers and see one on the lot and think it's a hard car to get and buy it?

[racedoc11]

+1 my dealer has 3 one is 535...I love the marketing rumors...

Originally Posted by RedBarron

The dealer here has had a 535I on the lot for about a month now. Maybe it's a ploy to get people to go to their dealers and see one on the lot and think it's a hard car to get and buy it?