{"id":6319,"date":"2020-01-18T13:00:48","date_gmt":"2020-01-18T21:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogv2prod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/?p=6319"},"modified":"2021-04-14T10:38:14","modified_gmt":"2021-04-14T17:38:14","slug":"bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\/","title":{"rendered":"BMW Under Investigation for Alleged \u201cSales Punching\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\nReading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

BMW is being investigated for its sales practices, according to a report recently published by the Wall Street Journal. The Journal revealed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking into claims of “sales punching,” an occurrence where an automaker has its dealers claim to have sold its vehicles that are still in inventory to make its sales figures look better.<\/p>\n

The publication cited “people familiar with the matter” as the source of the information.<\/p>\n

\"\"
BMW claimed, through the CEO of its North America office, Ludwig Willisch, that there is “a lot of pressure” to report high sales numbers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If the “sales punching” practice is proven true, it would mean that BMW ordered its dealers to record vehicle sales for cars and SUVs that are actually still in dealership lots.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for BMW told the Journal that the company plans to “cooperate fully” with the SEC’s investigation and confirmed the company has already been contacted by the Commission.<\/p>\n

In a 2016 report by Automotive News, BMW of North America CEO Ludwig Willisch was quoted saying there is “a lot of pressure” to report high sales numbers during an event with the National Automobile Dealers Association. In the same event, Willisch addressed the practice of inflating sales figures by having cars registered as loaners and selling them as used cars with very low mileage. Willisch said the practice was not ideal but that “it happens.”<\/p>\n

BMW, however, is not the only automaker to have been called out by the government for its sales practices. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles was also the center of attention when it was fined $40 million for paying its dealers to report falsified sales information over a period of years by claiming unsold vehicles as sold.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>BMW is being investigated for its sales practices, according to a report recently published by the Wall Street Journal. The… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[96],"ppma_author":[2607],"class_list":{"0":"post-6319","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-bmw","9":"entry"},"acf":{"adrotate_specific_mobile_ad":"","adrotate_specific_desktop_ad":""},"yoast_head":"\nBMW Under Investigation for Alleged \u201cSales Punching\u201d - In The Garage with CarParts.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"BMW is under probe by the U.S. SEC over reports of "sales punching" to boost its sales figures in America. Know more about it in this article.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BMW Under Investigation for Alleged \u201cSales Punching\u201d - In The Garage with CarParts.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BMW is under probe by the U.S. SEC over reports of "sales punching" to boost its sales figures in America. Know more about it in this article.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"In The Garage with CarParts.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/carpartscom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-01-18T21:00:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-04-14T17:38:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/bmw-logo-on-office-building.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1355\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@carpartscom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@carpartscom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\\\/\"},\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"$id\":\"4\",\"name\":\"CarParts.com Research Team\",\"jobTitle\":\"Expert Automotive Writer\",\"description\":\"The CarParts.com Research Team is composed of experienced automotive and tech writers working with (ASE)-certified automobile technicians and automotive journalists to bring up-to-date, helpful information to car owners in the US. Guided by CarParts.com's thorough editorial process, our team strives to produce guides and resources DIYers and casual car owners can trust.\",\"knowsAbout\":\"Auto Repair, Car Maintenance, Auto Parts, Car Reviews\",\"publishingPrinciples\":\"\\\/blog\\\/our-team\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/thecpteam\\\/\",\"sameAs\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/carpartscom, https:\\\/\\\/twitter.com\\\/CarPartscom, https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/@CarPartscomOfficial\\\/, https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/carpartscom\\\/\"}],\"headline\":\"BMW Under Investigation for Alleged \u201cSales Punching\u201d\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-18T21:00:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-14T17:38:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":305,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/bmw-logo-on-office-building.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"bmw\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\\\/\",\"name\":\"BMW Under Investigation for Alleged \u201cSales Punching\u201d - In The Garage with CarParts.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/bmw-logo-on-office-building.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-18T21:00:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-14T17:38:14+00:00\",\"description\":\"BMW is under probe by the U.S. SEC over reports of \\\"sales punching\\\" to boost its sales figures in America. Know more about it in this article.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/bmw-logo-on-office-building.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/bmw-logo-on-office-building.jpeg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1355,\"caption\":\"bmw logo on office building\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"In The Garage with CarParts.com\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"CarParts.com\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/cp-itg-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/cp-itg-logo.png\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":398,\"caption\":\"CarParts.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/carpartscom\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/carpartscom\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/carpartscom\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/@CarPartscomOfficial\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.carparts.com\\\/blog\\\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BMW Under Investigation for Alleged \u201cSales Punching\u201d - In The Garage with CarParts.com","description":"BMW is under probe by the U.S. SEC over reports of \"sales punching\" to boost its sales figures in America. Know more about it in this article.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BMW Under Investigation for Alleged \u201cSales Punching\u201d - In The Garage with CarParts.com","og_description":"BMW is under probe by the U.S. SEC over reports of \"sales punching\" to boost its sales figures in America. Know more about it in this article.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\/","og_site_name":"In The Garage with CarParts.com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/carpartscom","article_published_time":"2020-01-18T21:00:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-04-14T17:38:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1355,"url":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/bmw-logo-on-office-building.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@carpartscom","twitter_site":"@carpartscom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\/"},"author":[{"@type":"Person","$id":"4","name":"CarParts.com Research Team","jobTitle":"Expert Automotive Writer","description":"The CarParts.com Research Team is composed of experienced automotive and tech writers working with (ASE)-certified automobile technicians and automotive journalists to bring up-to-date, helpful information to car owners in the US. Guided by CarParts.com's thorough editorial process, our team strives to produce guides and resources DIYers and casual car owners can trust.","knowsAbout":"Auto Repair, Car Maintenance, Auto Parts, Car Reviews","publishingPrinciples":"\/blog\/our-team\/","url":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/author\/thecpteam\/","sameAs":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/carpartscom, https:\/\/twitter.com\/CarPartscom, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@CarPartscomOfficial\/, https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/carpartscom\/"}],"headline":"BMW Under Investigation for Alleged \u201cSales Punching\u201d","datePublished":"2020-01-18T21:00:48+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-14T17:38:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\/"},"wordCount":305,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/bmw-logo-on-office-building.jpeg","keywords":["bmw"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\/","url":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\/","name":"BMW Under Investigation for Alleged \u201cSales Punching\u201d - In The Garage with CarParts.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/bmw-logo-on-office-building.jpeg","datePublished":"2020-01-18T21:00:48+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-14T17:38:14+00:00","description":"BMW is under probe by the U.S. SEC over reports of \"sales punching\" to boost its sales figures in America. Know more about it in this article.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/bmw-logo-on-office-building.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/bmw-logo-on-office-building.jpeg","width":2048,"height":1355,"caption":"bmw logo on office building"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/","name":"In The Garage with CarParts.com","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"CarParts.com","url":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cp-itg-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cp-itg-logo.png","width":2048,"height":398,"caption":"CarParts.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/carpartscom","https:\/\/x.com\/carpartscom","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/carpartscom","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@CarPartscomOfficial\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\/"}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/bmw-logo-on-office-building.jpeg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/bmw-logo-on-office-building.jpeg","author_info":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/bmw-under-investigation-for-alleged-sales-punching\/"},"authors":[{"term_id":2607,"user_id":1651,"is_guest":0,"slug":"thecpteam","display_name":"CarParts.com Research Team","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/thecpteam.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/thecpteam.jpg"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6319"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carparts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=6319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}