BMW: 80% of 1-series Owners Don't Know They Have Rear-Wheel-Drive Cars

Automobile Magazine

A disheartening majority of BMW 1-series owners believe their car is front-wheel drive. Eighty percent, in fact. This startling stat comes straight from company CEO Norbert Reithofer during a conference call with analysts last week, Automotive News reports.

When asked whether the announced introduction of front-drive BMW models would confuse customers of a rear-drive-only brand, Reithofer said that 80 percent of 1-series owners already thought their car was front-drive. He added that the statistic was "quite a surprise" to BMW, but did not express concern. Instead, the lack of consumer interest means implementing a front-wheel-drive vehicles could come easier to the brand.

Last week, BMW announced that it will introduce front-drive vehicles into its lineup in 2014. With a platform from the third-generation Mini, the vehicles would range from minicars to compacts, according to BMW development head Klaus Draeger.

Ahh very sad they are going to water down a true "drivers car" brand some more. First it was the bangle styling and now this...

Funniest. damned. thing. ever. SMK is going to sh!t himself unconscious.

And I fully content- 75% or thereabouts never press any more handling out of their BMWs than Yaris owners do.

Edited March 22, 201015 yr by balthazar

Hard to believe there are people that ignorant buying cars. Then again, I had a coworker once that thought his Avalon had a V4.

As a past BMW owner, other BMW owners I knew were for the most part pretty knowledgeable and serious about their cars, esp. those in the Denver area BMW Club that I met at track day events, but some (coworkers, etc) were just posers there for the brand image.

Edited March 22, 201015 yr by Cubical-aka-Moltar

I believe this once and for all shows everybody here on C&G that the wheels pulling or pushing the car really doesn't matter to 80% of the public.

But overall, the vast bulk of BMW drivers are not attending track days via their marque club, they're just clueless schlubs with death grips at 2 & 10, schlubbing their way to work and thinking they are totally fashionable because they drive a 'beamer'.

I believe this once and for all shows everybody here on C&G that the wheels pulling or pushing the car really doesn't matter to 80% of the public.

Yeah, I guess w/ the masses a car is just like any other appliance..they don't care what's inside as long as it works and is cheap.

Just like how the public is with TVs or computers, they don't care about the technology inside. I remember having long detailed discussions w/ friends and coworkers about the merits of plasma vs LCD vs rear projection vs LED and 1080p vs 1080i, 3-5 years ago. But the general public just wants a TV that is big and cheap. Same w/ cars.

But overall, the vast bulk of BMW drivers are not attending track days via their marque club, they're just clueless schlubs with death grips at 2 & 10, schlubbing their way to work and thinking they are totally fashionable because they drive a 'beamer'.

True..the enthusiasts that go to track days are a minority of the enthusiasts who belong to a club who are a minority of driving enthusiasts who are a small minority of the buyers overall Tiny, specialized niches.

And the mainstream buyers are probably driving with one hand while texting on their cell phone w/ the others. Some of the mainstream BMW owners I've known are absolute AHDBs..

Edited March 22, 201015 yr by Cubical-aka-Moltar

But overall, the vast bulk of BMW drivers are not attending track days via their marque club, they're just clueless schlubs with death grips at 2 & 10, schlubbing their way to work and thinking they are totally fashionable because they drive a 'beamer'.

*ahem*

Unless they own the ultimate driving machine on two wheels, it is "Bimmer".

And I fully content- 75% or thereabouts never press any more handling out of their BMWs than Yaris owners do.

+1. Good pic there.

I was at the stealership the other day, and a lady and her husband were talking to me about their 135i and they said it shared the platform with Mini. I almost fell out of the chair.

It truly is an amazing & fascinating study of human perception.

Here, strong badge associations were thoroughly up-ended by --IMO-- the general impression that small = FWD.

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>>"Unless they own the ultimate driving machine on two wheels, it is "Bimmer"."<<

Noted, and don't care.

Edited March 23, 201015 yr by balthazar

Hmmm 20 years from now will we laugh when we see the new 7 series trying to compete with the modern RWD Cadillac X(S/D)TS. The Bimmer with its sad 15 year old FWD architecture and terrible proportions

But then again people will probably still hoard over the Bimmer because of the name