The event was very interesting and I was honored to be an invitee.
My dealer (Laurel BMW) is THE better dealer in the Chicagoland area. Not only in sales but more importantly in knowledge.
Pat Womack the GM there is very involved in the brand. Customer and dealer feedback is huge with BMW.
I would say, after all points were fielded, the biggest challenge BMW faces is the government.
The limitations placed on all the automakers are difficult to say the least. Of course the largest of these is fuel economy. With the new requisite of +54 MPG,(2025) a lot of challenges lie ahead.
Think of it this way, for every car that doesn't hit that number, there must be one that does better.
Some of you guys think you are enthusiast here (and I am sure are) and they don't care but that's not true. I genuinely feel BMW thinks of every owner as an enthusiast. Either current, or becoming.
The one "new thing coming" that I was happy about was the M2. I am looking forward to one.
Matter of fact I had a deposit on a new C7 ZO6 of which I was to assemble my build sheet today and I asked for a return on the deposit.
BMW knows the value of building the "Ultimate driving machine" and swear to keep this in all products moving into the future.
I for one feel they will.
There will be flops, but there will be many more success, this I am sure.
When was the last time you heard of another auto maker sitting there TOP design engineers down in front of customers, in a 3-1 ratio (3 engineers to one customer) and asking them to LISTEN.
I was completely impressed on how so they did, addressing each individual problem to a satisfactory thoroughness of every guest there.
I am a hard guy to please when it comes to vehicles. My wife a great deal more so. When you have to search for something to whine about, that's really saying something.
Here is a direct paste and copy of the email I just received (as I was writing this) from Oliver Ganser Manager, BMW Product Strategy and Market Intelligence
Dear valued participants of the BMW customer dialogue,
on behalf of our BMW Munich and BMW of North America Executive Team I wanted to reach out to you again and express our gratitude for the time and experience you shared with us yesterday. Your personal and direct feedback made a significant difference and will help our engineers to make better decisions during the development process of our products.
It was fantastic to hear/feel the passion you share for our brand.
Kind regards
Oliver Ganser
Again Kudos to BMW and long live the Ultimate Driving Machine!
