Quote:
Originally Posted by jfly77
I tracked the news for this car, both official and unofficial since its rumors started. Heres my take on the whole thing.
1. There is no "waitlist" as bmw doles out based on per dealer allocation which for the 1m were based on a dealers avg annual M3 sales ( is what i heard). So the waitlist is a per dealer list that would be very difficult to aggregate into 1 meaningful datapoint.
2. Yes it was partially influenced by the new CAFE rules http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpo...e_Fuel_Economy that begin thru 2012 and ramp up quite agressively from year to year for the next several years. I see other replies referencing CAFE but nobody mentions that this mandate is a "fleet average" i.e all of the US models offered beginning in 2012 avgd together. CAFE Is not the sole reason as the 1M is only 1 number in the average.
3. BMW HQ came out and said initially that it would be 1yr only run, as was previously mentioned in a reply, but then saw the demand surpass their expectations and actually put continued production for 2012 on the table and went undecided on that for some time. The dealers didnt know how many allocations they would get for the year as HQ put off the final plans or any formal communications about it for months. Basically my guess was M division had to wait for the fleet model shift final decision (coupes to even numbers, sedans to odd), just a guess. Also in the mix were budget decisions complicating things around the Leipzig plant. Its a low capacity plant. 1M US prod capacity was set initially to 60 cars/mnth with a 10 month prod run. increasing capacity was considered but the cost didnt make sense in the current uncertainty. They ultimately decided 1 yr run, take spare allocations from other weaker markets and apply to Us prod slots upping it to ~100/mnth midway still ending dec 10th. And the 1 series will shift to 2 (for the coupes).
My personal opinion is we will see an M2 based on the 235 (some F chassis) essentially retaining the spirit of the 1M but with a new TT 4 that will be a bit lower HP but higher power to weight and certainly better mpg in line with CAFE targets. That is just my own personal deduction|opinion|prediction. |
Leipzig told me that the 1M production will continue past Dec, 2011. From their email it looks like until March of 2012. I am still awaiting further confirmation though. I am expecting an email soon from Leipzig about EOP for the 1M.
Since Leipzig has a flexable mix production line... it is entirely possible that they will make the 1M along side of the X1 and new F20. Afterall... they will continue to built e82's and e88's for the next two years until the new F2x coupe comes out.
And besides... Regensburg is producing some 800 (F20) cars per day now. Btw.. Regensburg Werk is celebrating their 25th year of building BMW's this weekend! Soon (Dec, 2011) Leipzig will be cranking out F20's as well. There is some room for BMW to meet demand. We shall see.
Dackel