BMW Group to launch direct sales model across Europe, starting from 1 January 2024 with MINI in three countries
2024 will see the BMW Group launch the rollout of its new sales model. It will be introduced across Europe in several stages, starting with MINI in Italy, Poland and Sweden on 1 January 2024. The remaining European countries will gradually follow, with BMW scheduled to transition from 2026. The upcoming rollout represents an important step and will allow all new BMW and MINI vehicles and nearly-new BMW Group cars to be sold via a genuine agency model across Europe.
South Africa was selected as the pilot market for the development and adoption of a fully digital sales platform in 2020. Several key learnings from this project were applied in the European rollout.
The new sales model will benefit customers, retail partners and the BMW Group alike. Standard nationwide pricing for identical vehicle models will ensure price transparency for customers. In addition, as the transition to the agency model progresses, the BMW Group will digitalise the entire purchase process, giving customers a choice between online and physical purchase experiences – and switching seamlessly between the two. It will all be made possible by an end-to-end, integrated IT system landscape – plus full access to the familiar close-knit retail network.
“This transition to direct sales with retail partners is a key milestone in the realignment of our Sales division, which has been ongoing since 2020. The new sales model will enable us to communicate directly with our customers and give the BMW Group a direct customer interface,” said Pieter Nota, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG and responsible for Customer, Brand, Sales. “The aim of our new sales model is very clearly to increase customer satisfaction and offer the best premium customer experience in the industry.”
When the new sales model is in place, the BMW Group will continue to depend on its existing retail network, capitalising on one of its key strengths as a company: a highly functional and established sales structure. The new sales model was created in a lengthy process in which retail partners were actively involved. “I would like to say a big thank-you to our retailers for their constructive cooperation and the very positive feedback they have given us by signing 100% of our MINI agency contracts. That’s clear confirmation of our plans to move forward together,” said Pieter Nota. The BMW Group expects demand for personal customer contact to continue in the future, with retail partners playing a key role.
The agency model offers retailers an attractive and future-proof foundation for their business as well as greater planning certainty. They will earn a fixed commission per vehicle sold that is carefully calculated and takes the full range of factors into account. The same goes for online purchases, where they will be fully remunerated for vehicle deliveries. In addition, the new sales model allows them to focus on providing the best possible customer consultations and care and offers them access to the BMW Group’s entire stock of vehicles. Their feedback on the new sales model has been very positive, and all European retailers have already signed contracts for MINI.
As of today, our customers in Italy, Poland and Sweden can now make use of our online pre-orders for the new all-electric MINI Cooper and the new MINI Countryman as part of the new sales model.
