BMW Switching to Agency Model in Europe
Luxury brand says change will enhance customer experience, still include retailers.
BMW retailers in Europe will earn fixed commissions for each vehicle sold, including online sales.
IMAGE: BMW Group
BMW Group says it will start to transition to a direct-sales model in Europe with its MINI brand next year.
The agency arrangement will debut on New Year’s Day with MINI sales in Italy, Poland and Sweden. It said in a press release that it will then gradually switch to direct sales in other European countries and that it plans to add BMW sales to the new model in 2026.
BMW Group didn’t address its U.S. sales model, but earlier news reports indicated it wouldn’t make that change here.
The company says the switch in Europe will “benefit customers, retail partners” and itself with standard nationwide prices ensuring transparency to customers.
Along with the change, it said it will “[digitalize] the entire purchase process, giving customers a choice between online and physical purchase experiences – and switching seamlessly between the two” via an end-to-end, integrated IT system.
The company said it chose the agency approach to improve the customer purchase experience.
“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 and 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.”
But it said it will still rely on its retail network, which it said it directly included in plans for the switch. It said all stores signed its MINI agency contracts.
“The BMW Group expects demand for personal customer contact to continue in the future, with retail partners playing a key role,” Nota said.
BMW retailers will earn fixed commissions for each vehicle sold, including online sales.
Originally posted on Auto Dealer Today
More Showroom
Making the Safe Choice
Kelley Blue Book has turned households with teen drivers onto safe and affordable options for their vehicles of choice
Read More →
Inventory Holds Steady
September new-vehicle inventory rose slightly month-over-month, but dealer lots are laden with MY2026 vehicles as the typical model year changeover trudges along.
Read More →
October Auto Sales Fall With the Leaves
A forecast anticipates retail deliveries are down this month as consumers continue to face cost challenges, though more are tapping long loans in order to buy.
Read More →
California Sees Quarterly Gains
California’s new-vehicle market saw a boost in hybrids in the third quarter and its first overall quarterly market gain of the year.
Read More →
New-Vehicle Prices Stay Put
Affordability pressures and model availability shaped new-vehicle sales in September, according to an analysis by Kelley Blue Book.
Read More →
EV Buyer Consideration Shifts
What drives American consumers to purchase an electric vehicle is shifting as the question moves away from Should I?' to 'Which features and experience do I want to have?'
Read More →
Year-to-Date Auto Sales Holding Their Own
A forecast through August shows that automakers have shifted strategies to keep deliveries and revenues up despite tariffs and other economic challenges.
Read More →
Slow to Robo
Ten years of polling consumers shows autonomous vehicles’ profiles have risen considerably, but even more people now want at least some level of control if they go that route.
Read More →
Dealers a Little Down
A third-quarter Cox Automotive survey finds them in a mixed mood, bummed by fallen customer traffic but encouraged by better profits, costs and EV interest.
Read More →
European EV Sales Skyrocket
The EV market on the continent held strong in July with almost 25% of new-car sales being fully electric units, a stark contrast to the U.S., where EV sales declined about 42%.
Read More →