For the previous-generation version, incentives soared to an average of $11,005 per car in January, according to Autodata. The nameplate’s incentives fell in February and March as old vehicles were cleared out. The average incentive in March was $6,284. Dealers still have some old vehicles on their lots, but the nationwide supply was down to about 100 vehicles by late April, the company said.
U.S. sales of the 5 series have dropped steadily since peaking at 56,863 in 2013. In 2016, BMW sold 32,408, down 27 percent from a year earlier. This year through March, the company sold 6,641 5 series, down 32 percent through the sell-down period.
Advertising support is ramping up. Sonic’s Dyke expects marketing activity to spike in May when more cars are available at dealerships.
BMW is spending about 20 percent more than is common for a launch on the 2017 5 series, said Trudy Hardy, vice president of marketing for BMW of North America, without giving a dollar figure.
The spend will be biased slightly more toward digital and data-based marketing vs. broadcast TV than is typical, she added. TV advertising kicked off in March and will be strong through the spring.