Successful BMW Belux happy about switch to agency distribution model for Mini

With the self-confident slogan ‘Leadership in Motion’, BMW Group Belux has presented its vision of what happened last year for the BMW Group in Belgium and its plans for 2025.

Apart from being number one in Belgium and Luxembourg for the fourth consecutive year, the most noticeable fact is that Mini distribution’s switch to the agency model has been successful.

BMW Group Belux CEO Alexander Wehr said that the automotive industry is in dire straits at the moment, challenged by a partly declining market and the enormous investments needed for the energy transformation.

“In this, I’m pleased to say that BMW Group is going its own way. It has a portfolio with only premium brands and is one of the rare European manufacturers investing in the future and building new premises of all kinds instead of closing factories.”

“In Belgium and Luxembourg, we have a strong position, being number one on the market overall for the 4th consecutive time and number one in the premium segment. Our market share of 11.4% is a record. When one looks at the BEV segment, BMW Belux is number two, behind Tesla,” Wehr stated.

BEV share significant

The BEV share draws attention. The company car-driven new Belgian car market already has a BEV share of 27%, while the EU average is 15%. BMW’s BEV share is no less than 38% of total sales, and looking at the incoming orders of the latest months, the BEV share turns around 50%, with a whopping 62% in September.

“BMW is well prepared to tackle next year, and I’m fully supporting our group CEO Oliver Zipse, who says that Europe should stick to its CO2 targets for 2025,” Wehr commented. “And I’m not saying this because he’s paying me but because I believe in clear and properly defined rules for our business we can work with.”

Mini transformation

Gabriel Goffoy, responsible for the Mini brand in the Belux, sees excellent opportunities for Mini in the coming years. “Mini is an authentic love brand; emotion is key to us. We launched the new Cooper hatchback and the Countryman at the beginning of the year, and the new Aceman has followed recently. The latter is a significant car for us because he will allow us to penetrate the B2B professional market deeper.”

Goffoy is especially happy that the switch to the new agency direct sales model has been running smoothly and successfully since its introduction on October 1st. “Of course, there are still some glitches and bugs to be ironed out, but generally, it’s a success. We’ve been working on this for two years in tight cooperation with our dealers and other interested people, and we can be proud of what is already achieved.”

BMW Belux isn’t confronted with the same problems as some of its competitor importers, struggling to implement the agency model and encountering much resistance in their distribution network.

Alexander Wehr comments: “We’ve been working on this very hard and have involved the Mini dealers from the beginning. We are also not restructuring or downsizing our distribution network and are very happy that most of them are still family businesses, although some have grown very large.”

“You know, when you look at the financial situation of dealers in Belgium, you see that some 75% of their income is due to the margin they take on the sales of new cars. In the US, for example, the importance of new car sales in the total dealer turnover turns around 15%. We have to help our dealers to be creative and look for other sources of income.”

Dealers, for example, must consider the significant second-hand market much more. They must also be creative in after-market and service activities and, why not, financial solutions for their clients. Our aim is simple: our clients have to be happy, and if they are, we are, and our dealers benefit from it,” Wehr concludes.