It's not uncommon to see automakers massage its number of sales to sell more cars. This time, its BMW, and according to  The Wall Street Journal, although there have been rumors of arch-rival Mercedes-Benz doing the same thing in past years.

The scenario that the Journal paints is that it involves the practice of selling dealer "demos", which are supposed to be the vehicles that dealers buy to allow customers to test drive or use for loaners and then later on sell as used cars.

According to the report, that's not what's happening. The Journal reports that in July, BMW offered a one day, last day of the month sale price to dealers to buy demo vehicles at discounts. The units were booked as sales by the manufacturer but the dealers aren't putting them as vehicle demos, but in the lot as new cars.

Does this happen in every market the automaker is in?