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Shelf life of a BMW motorcycle dealership
- Thread starter motodan
- Start date
1957mpd
Knight-Errant
Viva Powersports in El Paso sells 9 different brands under one roof, but the BMW "showroom" occupies its own display area on the first floor - there are three. When the franchise became available (Barnett HD in El Paso swapped out BMW for Indian) a few years back I asked the multi-brand dealer in Las Cruces, NM where I live if they considered going after it. They said they did, but just couldn't make the business case; too many requirements. Just 10 years ago there was a long-time BMW dealer in Deming, NM, population 15,000, 50 miles west of Las Cruces on I-10. If the owner had not retired, I wonder whether he would still be a franchise. BMW has changed.
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pglaves
#13338
Actually, one owner retired and sold his share to the other owner who was later murdered. Thus ended the BMW and Yamaha dealership. The retired owner is still riding. I last talked to Don Cameron when he was crewing for Darryl Richmond's ride in the recent Cannonball Run.
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powwow
Member
After a 30 year career in the automotive business, I think I have a pretty good idea of what it takes to be successful as a dealer. Contrary to popular opinion, automotive retailers make very little in the new vehicle side of the business. A profitable and well run dealership will cover their fixed costs with the service business (called being service absorbed) and make their money in finance and used vehicles. The new vehicle business feeds the operation with customers, but is generally the least profitable department. I would imagine the motorcycle business is likely similar, with the problem being most of the individual brand names don't move enough volume to create enough customers, thus the multi-branded dealerships. If you own all the land and buildings, you can pay yourself the rent and probably make it work (i.e. some of the long term BMW dealers like Engle), but if you're paying market rent for a property with high visibility (plus improvements required by the factories), the high fixed cost makes for a difficult business proposition. I doubt the volume of service business (especially given the number of motorcycle owners that prefer to do their own maintenance work) would ever cover those costs, especially given the seasonal nature of most customer's riding.
cruisincruzan
Ute's Chauffeur
I think Towne in Buffalo had the shortest lifespan. I believe it was around than 6 months.
52184
GTRider
It isn’t that BMW doesn’t ALLOW multi-marque setups, it’s that in a multi-marque setup BMW won’t guarantee they won’t set up another dealership within what should be the original dealer’s territory. IMHO, Moon is a surviving anomaly in that they are located between the already-serviced St. Cloud and Minneapolis metro areas, so BMW really can’t poke another dealership in there without interfering with dealers in the larger nearby metro areas. I applaud Moon for surviving and hope they continue to do so!
As for Paul’s comment on 150 dealerships, I just wish BMW would take geography into greater consideration, especially for those states with no dealership at all.
Best,
DG
1957mpd
Knight-Errant
"Geography" is a minor player; economic demographics, a huge one.
I prefer the multi-line dealerships, but a separate sales area with the required grey tile floor and white fixturing has always seemed more than a little pretentious to me. It is just a motorcycle after all, not some frufru fashion accessory at Macy’s.
Dealers should be allowed to setup their showrooms in a way that works best for them and their customers.
Dealers should be allowed to setup their showrooms in a way that works best for them and their customers.
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52184
GTRider
True, but completely ignoring states with active economies, like North Dakota and Wyoming, seems like a poor business decision.
Best,
DG
AKsuited
New member
Were they ever open? I don't think they were.
HowardR1200RT
New member
Chicago Area
Could never figure out why the population in the Chicago area can't support multiple BMW dealers. We are left with one and obviously we have to believe and trust in what they say and do.
Could never figure out why the population in the Chicago area can't support multiple BMW dealers. We are left with one and obviously we have to believe and trust in what they say and do.
I bought my first BMW about 45 years ago. Long ago, I lost track of how many BMW dealers I have gone through. One recurring trend is that the small dealers were the best, and the largest ones were the worst. I am sure there are exceptions to this rule. I consider this revolving door of dealers the worst feature of owning a BMW motorcycle.
SHAG
Registered Loser
A friend of mine bought a bike there.
wbrownell9
New member
I know what you're asking for but don't think one exists. I've written BMW and told them their dealer locator sucks, if there's no dealer "nearby" (200 miles?) it returns no results so you have to keep trying random places until you get a hit. Try finding a BMW Motorrad dealer near Grand Forks ND.
KTM does it way better, it opens a map with dealers marked that you can zoom to find one nearby or on your route, and of course you can enter your location. Harley has dealers everywhere so you're never far from one, but its dealer locator is pretty good too. Indian gives the closest 25 dealers even if they're over 500 miles away. I hate dealer locators that only accept the zip code but won't accept city and state. If I'm 2000 miles from home I have no freakin' idea and have to look it up. I have to look up something before I can look up something. For that matter I hate any form that requires a zip code yet won't use it to look up city and state. /rant
You are fortunate. Based on MOA's own outdated (Holt gone in Ohio, Countryside gone in Illinois, to name a couple) list of dealers, there are seven States with no dealerships at all. However, there's one State with 23. Give or take, on any given day, there are 145 or so dealerships in the US. Eighty are west of the Mississippi, with 23 in California. Approximately 30% of BMW's US dealerships are in three western States. As for me, in NE Indiana I have one dealership 135 miles south, one 160 miles north, one 170 east and one 206 to the west. I know you do....but continue counting your blessings.
lee
Debbie's Servant
Even at home doing a search by zip code is a hassle.
Des Moines is 60 miles away and I don't know the zip.
If you have a BMW Navigator you can do a search for Grand Forks and it will pull up a list of dealers.
If you don't have a Navigator you can load a POI list of dealers to your GPS and do the same.
mika
Still Wondering
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...5302fbbde769&mid=1gYZYZtvA1936euMbBjXOtbSbZmo
Something like this?
Something like this?
Yes! Thx. Where did you get this? Is it widely available for anyone (me?) to use anytime? Available via smartphone?
