[RigaTony1982]

We truly do own unicorns! Z4 came in at #17.

https://jalopnik.com/2022-worst-sell...00332/slides/8

[Westside Guy]

BMW sold 398 Z4's in the 1st quarter of 2023 vs. 279 in the 1st quarter of 2022. That is an increase of 42.7%.

You should also see a nice increase when they offer the 6MT.

The Z4 was never meant to be a large volume seller.

I am really happy to own a "Unicorn"!!!

[RigaTony1982]

Right. Bunch of cool stuff on here. R8, NSX, F-Type.

[Bayernzeit]

I read this list yesterday betting the Z4 would appear, and sure enough there it was. Some good company there, and then some odd ones discontinued years before but still being sold.

[JustChris]

Great company!

The one in really surprised about as I thought it was a runaway hit in the US is the Veloster N.

I’m a Kona N owner here and Albert has worked wonders on these cars, such great value family run arounds!

[RigaTony1982]

Originally Posted by JustChris

Great company!

The one in really surprised about as I thought it was a runaway hit in the US is the Veloster N.

I’m a Kona N owner here and Albert has worked wonders on these cars, such great value family run arounds!

Yeah, not sure why that didn’t sell well here. The GTI does ok, and this seemed like a legit competitor.

[stlcdr]

Can’t sell cars you don’t make (if you make 5, you’ll sell 5). I feel like a few of these are a bit ‘disingenuous’ with the numbers, or rather the takeaway.

An interesting one (to me) is the Fiat 500X. That was the only one of the Fiat lineup they decided to sell in the US - the biggest (sic) of the 500 series. Obviously, not doing well, for many reasons. Indeed the 124 spider had many new previous year models just sitting on lots.

The US car market is a fickle environment. Obviously, ‘big is in’, but it doesn’t guarantee sales.

Some of these cars, though, don’t differentiate themselves enough from the competition, even in their own lineup. Wasn’t it Clarkson that said something like ‘that is nice, but this is better’?

[Bimmerfun82]

The E85 sold 199k units globally over 6 years

The E89 sold 118k units globally over 7 years, tapering off each year from 22.7k units in 2009 to 5.4k units in 2016.

I can’t find the G29 global sales volume data, but attached are US and EU data. EU sales are much stronger. Combined volumes are 12k in 2019, 11k in 2020 and 10k in 2021.

The Supra has made up the volume difference with 5.9k in 2020 and 6.8k in 2021 (US only). Don’t know what the take rate is on the manual, but I’m guessing that is driving the growth. To get a manual paired to the B58 engine, it is the only option out there. That fact alone is mind boggling.

Anyway, Q1 tends to be the lowest Quarter for z4 sales, but even if it claws back up to 2021 levels that would mean flat sales for three years.

Source: Wikipedia and Carsalesbase

[SpeedyATL]

I'd love for them to sell even fewer. Thrilled to have a modern unicorn that looks great, drives great and hauls ass!

[RigaTony1982]

Crazy how far the US number have dropped from 2005-2007. I blame all these suvs!

[Bimmerfun82]

Originally Posted by RigaTony1982

Crazy how far the US number have dropped from 2005-2007. I blame all these suvs!

That’s got to be the key trend in the data - SUV take rate in the US. There might also be a generational aging delta - as gen X and millennials delayed having children, they also delayed having mid life crises or empty nester roadsters …

[RigaTony1982]

Originally Posted by Bimmerfun82

That’s got to be the key trend in the data - SUV take rate in the US. There might also be a generational aging delta - as gen X and millennials delayed having children, they also delayed having mid life crises or empty nester roadsters …

Very well could be. I’m 40, so basically the oldest millennial. Out of my close group of friends and immediate family, every single car owned is an SUV with the exception of one Model S and one 3 series.

[mjposner]

"You should also see a nice increase when they offer the 6MT."

Well let's look at the Supra:

2021: 6,830
2022: 4,952
2023: 3,484 (based on 871 sold in 1st quarter)

Where is the manual bump? Appears that sales do not go up when manual offered, just that buyers inclined to buy will pick manual if offered.

All convertible sales are down and outside Porsche/Miata the 2 seat roadster (especially the luxury/gt side) is a dying market.

[jcolman]

I'd be curious to see who's buying our cars. I'm guessing it's primarily older males, over 50. But I could be wrong.

[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by jcolman

I'd be curious to see who's buying our cars. I'm guessing it's primarily older males, over 50. But I could be wrong.

I resemble that remark.

[stlcdr]

Originally Posted by jcolman

I'd be curious to see who's buying our cars. I'm guessing it's primarily older males, over 50. But I could be wrong.

I would tend to agree.

It’s a lot of money for this vehicle. It’s a 2 seater convertible and doesn’t lend itself to being a primary car, especially for those under 40. It’ll likely be a second (or more) car. Based on these, difference between a 65 and 105 dollar car is not likely a huge hurdle. Finally, that puts a lot more ‘prestige’ cars into the running (lot being a relative term) depending on what is the primary goal.

There are exceptions, of course, but when talking about millions of car purchases a year, the exceptions are negligible.

My take is that the average (sic) buyer is over 50, a second car in the household, looking for a bit more comfort over performance, but performance is important (because damnnit because) and it’s a good looking vehicle, with quality attached, something a bit unusual but not too much so. Has to be a convertible, because we like to think we are ‘outside’ people but must have the creature comforts.

[JustChris]

2nd car 47 male here checking in.

[Bimmerfun82]

It’s a 3rd car for us, we are both 40.

On the comment that this car is expensive for what it is, I have to disagree. Relative to a Porsche 718 GTS4.0, it’s a steal!!

[tracer bullet]

It does feel a bit expensive vs. the new M2 starting at 62k...

[Smudge10]

...but with much better colors and prettier lines than the M2!

[Bimmerfun82]

Originally Posted by tracer bullet

It does feel a bit expensive vs. the new M2 starting at 62k...

Oof, hard to compare the two bc they’re so different, if someone is in the market for a roadster I doubt they’d switch their mind to get an M2… starting price on Z4M40 is $65k, and I’d take it over the M2 (which comparably optioned is $65k as well) any day for the 300 lb weight reduction and ragtop and iD7… but that is just my opinion…

[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by tracer bullet

It does feel a bit expensive vs. the new M2 starting at 62k...

Originally Posted by Smudge10

...but with much better colors and prettier lines than the M2!

In addition it is a ragtop. 😉