How BMW gamed its dealership system to sell more cars

We've seen it before and we'll see it again, quite possibly before the end of the year: A luxury brand padding its numbers with questionable "sales." This time it's BMW, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal, although there have been rumors of arch-rival Mercedes-Benz doing the same thing in past years.

Regardless, fudging the numbers ain't right, and the Journal paints a pretty compelling case for BMW having done just that. The scenario involves the practice of selling dealer "demos." These are supposed to be vehicles that dealers buy to allow customers to test drive or use for loaners and such and then sell as used cars. But according to the report, that's not what's happening. In July BMW offered a one-day, last-day-of-the-month sale price to dealers to buy demo vehicles at discounts of up to $7,000. Those units were booked as sales by the manufacturer, but dealers aren't really using the vehicles as demos, they're putting them on the lots as new cars.

Last month BMW reported sales of 21,297 in the U.S., taking a 1,900-unit lead over Mercedes. The German automakers are locked in a fierce battle to emerge on top of the U.S. luxury sales crown, which BMW narrowly won in 2011.

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New Zealand dealership honors $1 Buy-it-Now price

 You've probably heard of more than a few eBay or Craigslist specials that sound too good to be true; "Buy it for just $1- today only!" More often than not, its a ruse, luring you in for a far less inciting, yet more realistic transaction. If you are Stadium Cars, you wish it were the latter, but a mistake on its part led to a BMW being sold for just $1. An employee at Stadium Cars in New Zealand listed a 1994 320i online for auction. The reserve, and thus the "Buy it Now" price? Just $1. At that price, it was scooped up in seconds.

Stadium Cars manager Mike Nokes said that while a car is listed with a $1 reserve every week, the "Buy it Now" option was accidentally activated. Thus, a user by the name of "bignz" was able to purchase the 1994 BMW 320i that otherwise would likely have sold in the $3,000 range. Sure, it's not nearly a brand-new car, but who'd turn down that deal?

Unsurprisingly, it was the cheapest sale of a car in the history of the dealership. At the point, one may surmise that the dealer would embark on legal action to get out of the sale, but according to Nokes, "We are firm believers in the auction process and for it to be fair to buyers and sellers alike." In this case, it seems that the buyer made out with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

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