swajames

I've seen a number of posts here from Canadian members talking about the price disparity with the US.

I came across this article where the CEO of BMW Canada gives the BMW perspective. He makes some interesting observations. Anyone agree or disagree?

http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/st...pageRequested=1

FRANK970

Thanks for finding this. I found it interesting. To me it seems like a lot of tapdancing around the issue. Right now the Canadian economy is fairly strong, especially in the west. Lots of money floating around so demand is high. If they can keep their volume up, why lower the price. The other issue they have is that they have been pushing leasing for years now and a significant number of cars are owned by BMW out on lease right now. If they dropped new prices by 10% like Porsche, all of their lease return vehicles would then have a residual less than market value. This policy would not only lower profit on future sales but take away profit they have already booked on past sales. I think that is why they are spinning so hard.

In the end our government policy regarding importing/certifications depends on the manufacturer. They can shut the import option down right away if they want. Prior to 2008 all Honda models could be imported. 2008 Honda Pilot and S2000 are the only models importable. That is how Honda dealt with it. BMW could do the same if they want.

elyk

now i am confused, so BMW Canada will honour a US sepc vehicle warranty as long as it passes the RIV list?

ademitt

Yes, the factory warranty is offered by BMWAG not BMW USA.

A CPO warranty issued on an American spec pre-owned vehicle will not be honored by dealers in Canada (the same applies for maintenance). You would need to take the car back to a US dealer if you wanted to take advantage of the CPO warranty after your initial factory warranty has expired.

JSpira

Interesting read although it looked like he was giving the same answer to most people as opposed to engaging in a discussion. I kept having a sense of d?j? vue reading it.

grover432

From my point of view it comes down to this: BMW charges us what they do because they can get away with it. They have said the same thing GM says: "we don't compete with other markets - we compete with other manufacturers in the Canadian market". So this means that until Mercedes drops their prices, BMW doesn't see the need to. Until Toyota drops the prices of their trucks, GM won't drop the price of their trucks either.

I don't buy BMW's arguments. I think they are arrogant (along with the other manufacturers) . We'll have to wait and see what the sales numbers are for November/December. If they drop due to publicity, the higher CAD and Canadians feelings about the price disparity, they'll have no choice but to drop their prices or live with lower sales levels.

The Canadian car manufacturer's position is to not address their prices for the 80%+ of people that have to finance their vehicles in some way. For the rest of us, they'll throw us a small bone. What they don't talk about are the financing deals that they offer in the US to their customers. GM offers higher rebates to their truck buyers in the US than they do in Canada.

Last time I checked, a 550i Sport (loaded) was about $17,000CAD less in the USA and you don't have to get Active Steering when you order Dynamic Drive. As it stands, I've got a car to drive and money in the bank. I'll wait until they adjust their prices to a reasonable level. If they don't I'll by something else.

Part of the pleasure of driving a car is knowing that the dealer/manufacturer treated me well. I can live without a BMW. the question is, if too many Canadian buyers feel the same way, can BMW live without us??