The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has fined BMW $18 (£14.2 / €15.5) million for “disclosing inaccurate and misleading information” about their sales figures.
According to the government, BMW inflated retail sales in the United States between 2015 and 2019. They went on to say this was done to help “BMW close the gap between its actual retail sales volume and internal targets, and publicly maintain a leading retail sales position relative to other premium automotive companies.”
In effect, BMW wanted to win the ‘luxury sales crown’ and they didn’t care if they had to cheat to beat rivals such as Mercedes and Lexus.
Also Read: BMW Under SEC Investigation For Possibly Inflating Their Sales Figures
The government says BMW of North America maintained a reserve of unreported sales, known as the “bank,” and would use those to hit internal monthly sales targets “without regard to when the underlying sales occurred.”
As an example, BMW could have sold 70,000 vehicles in March and then only reported selling 68,000 that month. The remaining 2,000 sales would go into the “bank,” where they could be reported months later to outset a slow month.
That wasn’t the only monkey business as the SEC says the company paid dealers to “inaccurately designate vehicles as demonstrators or loaners so that BMW would count them as having been sold to customers when they had not been.” The government also said BMW “improperly adjusted its retail sales reporting calendar in 2015 and 2017 to meet internal sales targets or bank excess retail sales for future use.”
These false sale figures attracted the SEC’s attention as the information was provided to investors in bond offerings from BMW US Capital. The inflated sales were also given to credit rating agencies.
The SEC’s Director of the Division of Enforcement, Stephanie Avakian, said “Through its repeated disclosure failures, BMW misled investors about its U.S. retail sales performance and customer demand for BMW vehicles in the U.S. market while raising capital in the U.S.” She added, “Companies accessing U.S. markets to raise capital have an obligation to provide accurate information to investors.”
The government noted BMW’s “significant cooperation” in the investigation played a role in the relatively low fine. BMW and its and subsidiaries also got to settle without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings.
The case recalls a similar investigation of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles which resulted in a $40 (£31.4 / €34.4) million fine last year. In that incident, the government alleged FCA inflated sales between 2012 and 2016 to falsely maintain a streak of uninterrupted sales growth.
At the time, the government said FCA paid dealers to report false sales and maintain a database of actual but unreported sales called a “cookie jar.” It acted like BMW’s bank as the company would dip into the cookie jar when they were in danger of failing to hit sales targets or losing their growth streak.
