Drive home happy

Cars, page 2
by jenna elliott

BMW allows its drivers to reach a pre-conceived ideal similar to Briggs’. It isn’t just a brand anymore, it’s a lifestyle. Browse www.bmwusa.com and see how BMW has turned a mode of transportation into a world-known anthem. Visit a local BMW dealership and get lost in the state-of-the-art showroom. Briggs says BMW’s brand has flourished in creating desire to trade up. It taps into peoples’ desires to show they are successful and smart by educating its drivers on handling and engineering specifications.

Andy LaBerge, sales manager at Zimbrick European, a BMW dealership in Madison, acknowledges BMW’s marketing strategy. “Performance is certainly important to a lot of their advertising,” he says. But, “they are kind of switching from strictly performance to the value and safety of the product,” he adds.

While the idea of value and safety play an influential role in BMW’s young professional demographic, status remains the most persuasive selling tactic. “There are a lot of people who kind of aspire to getting a BMW,” LaBerge says, adding that’s their perceived notion they’ve achieved success.

LaBerge says it’s not just status that’s important as much as the type of status or image it portrays to an onlooker. “If you pulled up in a [BMW] 3 Series or you pull up in a Sunfire, I mean, people are going to make that quick judgment of what that person’s about,” LaBerge says.

For a young professional in today’s world, it’s no longer about stereo systems that can beat and boom louder than 10 decibels. Flashy rims and chrome accessories define the driver who puts gaudy above sleek. Luxury cars are the epitome of the professional world, not the “tricked-out rides” that appear on MTV. A lavish BMW speaks for the younger driver, a driver that makes up roughly 41 percent of BMW’s 3 Series buying demographic.

For a young professional, a new car can be a lifestyle change. Money may be no object when it comes to buying a new car because it pays to drive around appearing socially acceptable. But money cannot regenerate itself, and sooner or later it could run out, leaving buyers with a car payment extended well past their budgets. It definitely pays to be smart about purchasing or leasing a new car.

Young professionals can now purchase certified pre-owned vehicles, a new trend among cost-conscious buyers. LaBerge says this is the consumer’s affordable way of stepping into the BMW brand. Buyers aren’t necessarily spending the dollars needed for a brand new BMW that has the advanced Bluetooth wireless technology, but they are investing in a brand that backs its name significantly.

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