BMW reckons that the car showroom as we think of it is due for a major overhaul in the coming years, bringing with it a totally new retail experience that will turn the traditional approach on its head.
Speaking at ‘Future of Retail’ symposium in Amsterdam, the BMW Group’s head of premium retail experience Michele Fuhs said “nothing will happen in ten days, but I can’t tell you that automotive retail will look the same in 10, 15 years.”
The symposium, organised by BMW, invited speakers from various other marques, along with architects and designers, to discuss the changes that await automotive retail. As time goes by, the industry becomes more and more prepared for the shift to mobility schemes, increased urban integration, and larger product ranges.
On the matter of product ranges, BMW said that its range is already to big for dealerships. The current BMW lineup is, presently, about 10 times as many variants and models as it did 10 years ago. “We have to completely revolutionise our network. We can’t have 24,000 square feet in central Amsterdam,” Fuhs said.
A retail experience like the ones that Rockar has rolled out for Hyundai and Jaguar-Land Rover were absent in discussion, but other ideas were bandied about. Some of the floating possibilities included boutique style stores, more experience-based brand spaces, and a marriage between virtual and digital presences.
BMW says that there will be small changes made to its dealer network in the near future, rather than a total ground-up overhaul of the existing infrastructure. The Munich marque did say that a “more interactive retail experience” should be rolling out by 2018, with a ‘fully experiental retail experience’ due in 2020.
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