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Franz Yung New President of BMW Canada

For some months now, Franz Jung is the new president of BMW Canada. Despite his young age, he was 47, he had a long career in this constructor. Carriere who brings in all corners of the planet. After having debuted in another German manufacturer in its infancy, it is going to use BMW in 1996. Since then, he has held numerous positions, almost all associated to the field of marketing. He was president of BMW including Mexico until 2002. It follows a period of three years during which he held important responsibilities of starting for Germany. Then after, in 2005, he was mute in China as sales manager. Two years later, in 2007, he was first appointed as head of brand development in the countries of the former Eastern bloc. From success to success, it is then called responsible Scandinavia for a period of 15 months before being named to Canada.

GA: When you arrive in Canada, what impresses you most about the economic plan?

FJ: I was pleasantly surprised that Canada had suffered much less than many other countries on the economic level. Your banking system is very strong and structure which avoids many disasters. Moreover, BMW sales in Canada have almost no back because we recorded a slight regression of 3% over 2008. And you can almost consider that this decline is on track to correct since the month May and June 2009 were record months for our company in the Canadian market. We are the leaders in the segment of luxury vehicles and we must preserve it. It takes a lot of work anyway, because our competitors are very strong and very active.

GA: These sales increases in recent months seem to be connected to your arrival. What did you do to restart the machine?

FJ: It took hard work and revise our policies. I saw the process of brand positioning and sales. I just want that BMW has the leadership in sales volume, the best in its class and is also the company that is most effective in terms of internal operations. I also very insistent that the dealers work more in harmony with us to be more effective. We have nothing fundamental changes, but we assured that our operating and marketing was always the same. It should be noted that we have a network of dealers very strong and I spend a lot of time to meet these dealers to get a better synergy.

GA: Is the future of BMW short term seems reassuring?

FJ: I am very optimistic, as already encouraging signs of economic recovery we denote. It is not spectacular, but at least it seems to have reversed the trend. That said, we must not forget that we will sell in the coming months several new models that will allow us to counter our opponents. Among these new models, there is the 7 Series AWD, the 5 Series Grand Tursimo, the new entry-level X3 and X1 will make its arrival on the Canadian market in 2011. Should not forget the X5M and X6M will be available this fall.

That said, our recent successes are encouraging, but we made less profit because it has cost us a lot more to sell this amount of vehicles. It should be noted that the Canadian market is very price sensitive and conditions of sale. We worked hard, we've had success remains now to enjoy better profitability.

GA: That said, you see a short-term expansion of the number of BMW or MINI dealers in Canada?

FJ: I do not think we'll increase the number of BMW dealers. Their number is enough for now and must give them time to develop and grow their local market. By cons, we should not be surprised if the number of dealers Mini increases. This brand in my opinion is a sleeper and should know more marked growth in the coming years.

GA: In closing, a few personal questions. Firstly what is your hometown and what is your home port at this time. Finally, what is your favorite football club.

FJ: I'm in Baden Baden in Germany but I am now a resident of Munich when I returned to Germany under the vagaries of my work. For cons, I'm not a fan of Bayern. I prefer the more attacking style of British football clubs like Chelsea.

That said, and believe me this is no mere politeness, I love your country and Quebec in particular. Since my arrival in Canada I traveled across the country from east to west and I really appreciate what I saw. By cons, in your province, there is a love for the automobile that are not found in other provinces.

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