BMW CFO Nicolas Peter said in an interview to German paper, Muenchner Merkur, that the company plans to start selling cars directly to customers:
"We want to give customers the opportunity to order directly from us," Peter said. The current plan is to offer cars from Mini direct to consumers in 2024, with BMW brand sales coming in 2026.
BMW has said that the new feature will be available in Europe and other markets, but not the U.S.
"News reports stemming from the BMW Group Q3 global business update in Munich referred to a planned change in the retail sales model in Europe and other markets outside of the U.S.," a BMW spokesperson told Road & Track. "Please be advised that this change applies only to the European market and other markets outside of the U.S. and have no impact on our business model or operations here in the U.S."
Automakers who sell directly to customers without any intermediaries do so because they want to make more money, much like Tesla. Tesla has never had dealerships and instead rely on a small number of stores.
