Report Claims BMW Included Demo Sales in July Totals

BMW used demo sales to boost its July sales numbers in order to gain a competitive edge with Mercedes-Benz, The Wall Street Journal reported this week.

A report published in the Journal charged BMW with boosting its July sales total by including demo sales. According to the German automaker’s July sales report, a total of 21,297 vehicles were sold in the United States in July.  But according to the report, hundreds of those vehicles remain in showroom inventories and are still being advertised for sale.

BMW spokesperson Kenn Sparks confirmed to the Journal that its July sales total did include the demos that are used for test drives, but he did not disclose the amount of demo sales that contributed to the total transactions.

To view the full WSJ article, click here.

F&I and Showroom columnist Jim Ziegler charged Mercedes-Benz of doing the same thing in his August column. It can be viewed by clicking here.