No plans to increase three-year warranty: BMW

BMW Australia chief executive officer Vikram Pawah says the company has no plans to increase its factory warranty period above the current three-year/unlimited kilometre term, however it will consider extending its length if customer demand is strong enough.

 

This comes despite a gradual shift to longer warranty periods by many manufacturers, with BMW instead focusing on producing reliable vehicles.

 

Speaking at the launch of the new fourth-generation X5 large SUV, Mr Pawah said following other manufacturers in offering an extended warranty was not a priority, and that the company would listen to its customers.

 

“We keep on looking at all the options all the time, there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “Because those are the things as brands we have to look at what’s happening in the industry, but more importantly what are the customers really asking for?

 

“I think from our perspective, whenever I’ve spoken to customers, what they’re really asking is not that you give me a five-year warranty, what they’re asking is ‘give me a car that’s durable’.

 

“If that’s happening, if you’re looking after me as a customer, I don’t care whether it’s a five-year warranty.”

 

While BMW has fallen behind some other manufacturers with its warranty, it matches its closest rivals – Mercedes-Benz and Audi – both of which also provide a three-year/unlimited kilometre assurance period.

 

Among luxury manufacturers, BMW’s guarantee bests that from the likes of Jaguar, Land Rover and Maserati, all of which offer three-year warranties but with a distance cap of 100,000km. The exception is for the incoming Jaguar I-Pace fully electric SUV, which has an extended warranty period of five years/200,000km.

 

Japanese luxury pair Lexus and Infiniti both also offer 100,000km terms, however this is bolstered by a four-year assurance period.

 

Ferrari offers a seven-year warranty on all new vehicles, while EV specialist Tesla provides an eight-year/160,000km warranty on its Model S and Model X, with an eight-year/unlimited km guarantee on its battery and drive unit.

 

Many mainstream manufacturers including Holden, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Skoda and Mazda have recently moved to five-year/unlimited km terms, while Kia leads the pack with a seven-year/unlimited km period.

 

Mr Pawah said he was happy with BMW’s aftersales support despite regularly finishing below average in recent JD Power customer service polls.

 

“At the moment I think we are offering the right balance of warranty and customer support and customer-centricity that we offer already to customers,” he said.

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