[swamp2]

(Long.... but good I think)

BMW enjoys a pretty high ranking amongst major OEMs in terms of profit. The figures for 2006 was 5.9% margin. Others of interest were:

Porsche - 19.2% (wow, they are ripping us off...)
Toyota - 6.9%
VW - 2.6%

Another recent report has stated Porsche's average profit per car at at an incredible $28,000. This number though is totally inconsistent with the 19.2% figure above. At an $80k average sale 20% is only $16k. I am much more inclined to believe the 19% figure. The same report list BMW at $3,200 per car. This is quite consistent with about 6% of about $50k (estimated average sale price across the models 1er to 7er).

Next we have to understand the profit division. I think the numbers above mean that the profit per car is the profit for BMW Group. Obviously dealers in each region buy low and sell high creating another tier of profit in each region and this figure is then completely on top of the proft for BMW Group. In NA in particular one estimate pegged the BMW NA dealer purchase price for the Coupe at approx. $52.6k that means a hefty ~$5k per M3 per dealer profit. 6% profit margin on something sold a $53k tranlates to an item that costs about $50k.

...Finally to build cost... It is difficult to get build cost precisely even when consulting the BMW annual report. One reasonable estimate of this is that the ratio of BMWs total actual cost of their cars including cost of sales and R&D (but excluding sales and administrative costs, even though those are essential parts of running the company and doing business) divided by total revenues should be roughly the same across it's car lines. This figures for BMW in 2006 was about 82%. So if a Coupe is sold to NA at $53k the 82% figure tell us their actual cost of the car parts, R&D, labor, facilties, etc is then ~$44k. Including all other costs the majority of which are sales and administrative (100%-6%)*$53k = ~$50k as per above.

So these are my two esimates of the "cost" of a base M3 Coupe, $44k excluding S&A costs, $50k including S&A costs. You can use some simple ratios of these numbers if you are interested in the fully optioned case. However do realize that margins are much higher on options than on a base car. I sure would like to hear from an accountant/financial pro or someone who has actually worked in the automotive industry. We had a lot of good discussion from some pros (econimists, etc.) on currency issues on other threads, maybe they will read and chime in. This is a pretty rough/1st pass estimate.