If you’re eagerly awaiting the all-new 2011 BMW 5-Series, get in line. According to the latest reports, BMW has completely sold out of the new model worldwide.
The 5-Series begins at $44,550 here in the U.S. and it became available in late March. This sedan completes in the highly competitive mid-size luxury sedan segment where it still out performs the venerable Mercedes E-Class and and Audi A6.
“The 5-Series is at the core of the BMW brand and we knew it was going to be a very strong vehicle for us,” Ian Robertson, BMW’s sales chief, said today in an interview at an industry conference in Bilbao, Spain. “In the U.S., where it’s doing very well, it could come to between 15 percent and 17 percent of our business as we ramp up.”
BMW aims to boost the number of units sold, and part of its strategy is to increase parts-sharing between models and even between competitors. The 2011 5 Series for example shares up to 70% of its technology with BMW’s full-size 7 Series sedan. What this all boils down to is increased profitability over the next few years.
“A lot of markets are performing well,” Robertson said. “Overall we’re seeing good progress.”
* * *
Read more BMW news on this blog. Subscribe now for all the latest.
{ 2 trackbacks }
{ 0 comments… add one now }