BMW Motorrad needs YOU...

[helu54]

Dear Motorcycle Riders,

Within the last few years BMW Motorrad put a lot of effort into repositioning its brand image. New segments were introduced, new models launched, marketing communication was altered and considerable attention was drawn towards motorsports. - What do you think about these actions? Did your personal impression towards BMW Motorrad change? Have you ever heard of BMWs S 1000 RR superbike? Why do you ride a BMW? Why would never ride one?

Whether you a ride a BMW or not – Every piece of input is vital for us!

Why am I asking all these questions? - My name is Hermann Riess and I am currently writing my Master Thesis for the International Marketing Strategy and Communication Department of BMW Motorrad in Munich.

I have developed the following online-questionnaire to gain insights into your perceptions, opinions and overall impressions towards motorcycle manufacturers in general and BMW Motorrad specifically.

Brand Research

I hope you will take the time to complete this questionnaire.
It should take you about 8-10 minutes to complete this survey.
As an incentive 10 BMW Motorrad merchandise items will be raffled.
Yours sincerely

Hermann Riess

[Kenneth_Moore]

Pretty interesting survey. I liked the Rorschach test.

[longride]

I don't need to take a survey. I like what they have done. If they got the prices slightly in line, I'd probably have on in the garage.

[seruzawa]

I'm disgusted with BMW's business plan that forced dealers to spend huge amounts of money on fancy showrooms and took dealerships away from Mom and Pop bike shops. What sense is a business plan that ends up having people I know fly to Chicago or Denver to buy BMWs because they hate the local area dealer so much? Good luck Beemer. Too bad those home equity lines dried up.

[Kenneth_Moore]

Originally Posted by seruzawa

BMW's business plan that forced dealers to spend huge amounts of money on fancy showrooms and took dealerships away from Mom and Pop bike shops.

Really? I did not know that. Those are almost word for word the most popular gripe I heard about HD back in the 90's. The local BMW shop is still pretty much the same dump it was 15 years ago.

[seruzawa]

Originally Posted by Kenneth_Moore

Really? I did not know that. Those are almost word for word the most popular gripe I heard about HD back in the 90's. The local BMW shop is still pretty much the same dump it was 15 years ago.

Yeah. Salt Lake HD built a new showroom, ostensibly to stock Buells, and instead they moved the HDs into it and turned the old showroom into a boutique. Fortunately, HD isn't stingy with the dealerships and there's the South Valley Harley Shop that has Buells and it's a 10 minute walk from my house. They even have a salesman who will try to sell you one!

There's a local shop called Motorcycle R&R that does BMW maintenance, sells used bikes,accessories, etc. They've tried to get a dealership franchise, but BMW won't give it to them because:

A: They don't want to build a fancy upscale BMW auto dealership style showroom.

B: BMW is reluctant to have another dealer that close to the current one.

Too bad. As I said people fly to other cities and ride back for less $ than the cost of a new BMW locally. One guy buys a new BMW every two years and has never bought one locally. The local BMW dealer gives no special deals on accessories. Even worse, the local BMW dealer tacks on another 10% surcharge on parts (as if the 100% standard mark-up isn't enough). I got this data from a BMW fanatic friend who owns like 9 BMWs. Oh yeah, the BMW dealer lost their KTM franchise.

The local BMW dealer is also the local Triumph dealer and, once again, a friend of mine flew to Denver two weeks ago to pick up a new Street Triple. Maybe the Triumph corporation should pull their head out too. Hmmm. For that matter another friend flew to Idaho to pick up a Moto Guzzi Breva1100. Maybe it's something in the local water supply.

None of this impresses me about BMW corporation. They should be paying more attention to their dealers. Especially since they are charging such premium prices. They'd probably sell a lot more bikes here if they put the franchise in the hands of someone who doesn't have his head fully inserted.

[helu54]

Hi Guys,

First of all I want to thank you for completing my survey.

Its really interesting to read through your feedback. Unfortunately I am not involved/have no inisight into dealer development etc. Therefore I am not aware about the regulations regarding franchises, markups on spare parts...

@Lost KTM dealership: Since BMW Motorrad acquired Husqvarna its hard-Enduro bikes became direct competitors to KTMs low ccs. I guess that this could be the reason for having the dealer to discontinue their franchise (from either BMWs or KTMs side). I live around 10kms away from KTMs HQ in Mattighofen, Austria, and I have never seen a dealer who sold both, BMWs and KTMs.

Hermann