Although the German automakers said earlier this year that they were ready for the U.S. economic downturn, BMW has announced a measure to combat the eroding value of the dollar. Starting June 1, BMW will raise its U.S. prices by 1 percent across the board.
“It’s a moderate price increase that reflects the conditions in the market,” Markus Sagemann, a spokesman for BMW, told Bloomberg.
Since the start of 2008, the value of the dollar has fallen about 8 percent against the euro, meaning BMW gets fewer euros for every vehicle it sells in the U.S. With that kind of erosion, BMW’s home office in Germany has lost about 2,000 euro ($3,150) per vehicle on cars like the 5-series in just the last few months.
BMW’s U.S. sales were down 4 percent through the first four months of 2008.
