A cargo ship carrying new BMWs, Mercedes, and Volkswagens arrived in the Port of New Jersey on Friday with more than 470 damaged cars in one of its cargo holds. The cargo ship Courage, operated by Wallenius Lines, encountered rough seas in the Atlantic before arriving at port. Vehicles in one of the ship’s cargo holds were ripped from their lashings during the storm, hurtling cars into one another. In total, about 470 BMWs were damaged, roughly 120 of which are a total loss.
BMW® North America spokesman Tom Plucinsky confirmed the incident, which was first reported on the eve of the start of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Plucinsky indicated that while there were BMWs in several holds of the ship, the damage appears to be limited to just the one. Nevertheless, BMW® plans to inspect every one of their vehicles that was on the Courage, looking for damage at chassis tie-down locations and conducting a four-wheel alignment check on each one before releasing them to dealers.
The exact breakdown of the damaged vehicles is still being sorted out, but a significant number of the cars in the affected cargo hold were M3s intended for use as dealer demonstrator vehicles ahead of the full launch of the M3. A fair number of new 1 Series coupes, also intended for dealer use, were damaged as well. The remaining cars consist of customer orders and European delivery vehicles.
BMW® says customers concerned about ending up with a damaged car can rest assured that any and all damage will fully disclosed before being sold to dealers. Following its long-standing policy, the damaged vehicles will be handled appropriately based on the degree of damage incurred. For instance, any vehicle whose repair costs approach or exceed its inventory value will be crushed in whole at the port.
Vehicles with damage greater than three percent of their value will be repaired and used as employee vehicles for a period of time before being sold at dealer auctions with full disclosure of the damage and repairs. After being sold at auction, the cars will carry the balance of the original factory warranty.
Cars with less than three percent damage will be repaired, after which the dealer, or the customer in the case of a special order vehicle, will be notified of the damage and repair and then given the option of accepting or refusing the car. Any repaired car that is rejected by either a dealer or a customer will be sent to a dealer auction and the vehicle will be replaced with an identical one at the earliest possible time. All repaired vehicles will carry the full factory warranty.
Those customers who were waiting for their European Delivery vehicle to arrive will have the same options and everyone else. Essentially, they can take a similar vehicle from dealer stock, or they can order an identical replacement new from the factory.
The damaged inventory is an unfortunate setback given the timing. New M3s, 128i and 135i coupes are scheduled to go on sale in just a few weeks, and the loss of at least 120 cars will certainly cause problems with their launch. The remaining 350 or so damaged cars will take weeks to repair, further hampering the introduction of these popular models. Even the process of inspecting and aligning the remainder of the shipment will hold up the delivery of several hundred cars at a time when supply is already low.
Over 370 BMWs bound for New Jersey port damaged in shipping
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