[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by ztx84

I think that BMW is facing the same pressures as all automakers. Ultimately it is all about massive innovative disruption hitting the marketplace in the form of electric and autonomous tech (as stated by a previous poster). One argument is that in about 15-20 years time, maybe a bit more, car ownership (as we know it now) will simply not exist. When you want to get somewhere you will tap up an app on your phone, an autonomous car/pod will collect you and take you to your destination.

When you think about the pure economics of it, it makes sense - cars spend 95% to 99% of their lives parked, and not used. Where else in business do you have an asset that sits idle for that period of time? The counter to that is that car ownership is also a lot about status and image - what you drive says a lot about you, so its not all black and white. Like it or not a car is (in part) a symbol of status and an extension of you. My view would be though that car companies will need to reinvent themselves along the lines of "mobility providers" and the only cars that people will bother owning in future years are performance/exotic/classic machines. In much the same way that the internal combustion engine killed off travel by horses - Electric and autonomous tech will kill off car ownership as a model. BUT - people still ride horses for fun, and I would say the same will happen with cars... We drive because we like to and I feel that would continue. I think BMW is positioned better than some other car makers in that regard.

Maybe it is different in Europe, but in the USA, EV sales are barely over 1% of our market. 1% of the market is not "disruptive" force. What is a disruptive force is political legislation. IMO the world governments stance of anti-carbon combustion (low emissions and low fuel consumption) have made cars over complicated and expensive to maintain. BMWs have never been Japanese-level reliable and are expensive to repair (outside of DIYing). Throwing on direct injection and forced induction make BMW ownership that more expensive. Being BMW has softened its sport composure and other brands have caught up in chassis dynamics, the Roundel and good lease deals keep up BMW sales numbers. Their sport sedans sales have dropped off precipitously. BMW used to just make sport sedans; the best in the world IMO.

I don't understand your business model asset comment. Cars are transportation tools; no different than the tools sitting in my tool boxes that I use 5% of the time, or like the utensils in my kitchen, where I use them only when I eat.

You use your bed only about 33% of the day. Does it make sense to own one?