BMW is taking a cautious approach to agency as it starts to make the switch from 01 January next year, says Matt Collins of BMW (pictured above).
It starts first in Europe – with MINI leading the way in Italy, Poland and Sweden. The remaining European countries will gradually follow, with BMW scheduled to transition from 2026.
BMW says it is moving to full agency, but as German rival Mercedes-Benz has found, it’s not an easy task as market share plummets and the direct format has to include some massive discounts – not to mention using some leasing funders to assist sales, such as Leasys.
Broker News managed to get an audience with Matt Collins, appointed to the general manager of corporate sales role in June this year.
“We have to be very careful as we move to the agency model in 2026,” says Matt. “We haven’t fully sliced how we segment the channels.
“But we have some agency in place and we have scaled back activity with brokers but we haven’t established what those relations will look like in the future. It will obviously be a change to the way we go to market. But haven’t ruled anything in or out. For now it’s business as usual.”
Matt went on to say that SME was a big focus for BMW, particularly salary sacrifice, and didn’t plan any dramatic changes to this approach. “Our focus is on future sales with MINI, which goes agency towards the end of next year. We are still in discussions with Munich about what we are doing. It’s a European approach.”
What are Matt’s thoughts about the broker channel?
When we spoke to Matt he had only been in the post for a number of months so his response was perhaps a little understandable.
“I’m not sure I’ve had enough time to form my opinion on brokers,” he said.
“We have salary sacrifice terms – we want to have a competitive offer out there. But there’s clearly a demand for it. So we want to make sure we are in the market. I’ve been surprised at the interest already.
“The models we offer on salsac on are not necessarily the same as business contract hire, but feedback so far has been positive and I welcome that.”
What should brokers expect of the new BMW i5?
“Clearly it’s the first time we’ve had an electric 5 Series, but it still feels like a BMW in the way it drives,” explains Matt.
“I think the technology in the i5 (pictured left) is impressive – much of the tech has filtered down from the i7 and we’re seeing this in the i5. From an SME perspective the ability to monitor sustainability where they are subject to regulatory oversight will be important.
“For SMEs it’s a fleshing out of the range and now the third electric saloon we offer. For SMEs waiting for the product portfolio to expand it’s a compelling proposition, and the RVs are good.”
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Ralph Morton is the leading journalist in the leasing broker sector and editor of Broker News, the website which provides information and news for BVRLA-registered leasing brokers. He also writes extensively on the fleet and leasing market in both the UK and Europe.
