Who Could It Be? BMW Says It Is Open To Buying Another Brand

Right... because the Land Rover deal worked out so well for them...

That's what Xdrive implied. Re-read his comment.

True, and Ford might be willing to off-load Mazda in light of their recent troubles.

"Both are tuned to driving and Mazada is not a generica Japanese brand like Honda and Toyota."

And Mazda may actually be in reach of BMW. Toyota or Honda would be far too expensive.

I don't think BMW should do this. The three brands they have right now are good fits- but they don't need a volume brand, and they certainly don't need Volvo. Either one would give way to platform sharing, and you know how much die-hard BMW fans hate that. It's the one thing they can brag about not having.

I think BMW should buy Jaguar.

Exactly what I was thinking. Prob not though after that bad experience with Range Rover

<troll> maybe they should buy Lexus and put it out of it's misery once and for all </troll>

If BMW bought Lexus those folks could finally get free maintenance.

EL34, if you donated your body to the University of California, UC Irvine would finally get some free manure-based fertilizer.

Wow, Lexus cars never need to be serviced? Amazing...

Jaguar is not Rover. It does have a high quality quotient and is rated well now with JD Power. The only issue is it's products directly compete with BMW products. Its one thing if they are priced significantly above BMW(like Rolls) or below like (Mini). Why not somthing like Peugeot or Citroen.BMW already shares engine technology with them and it's FWD. Volvo could have worked as well.Both can be positioned below BMW.Unless they want to revive the Triumph brand.It all depends if they are going for volume sales or limited higher end. I predict volume is where they want to go.They can always make a lower priced Rolls to compete with Bentley.

Well said, mini22. Ford would love to unload Jaguar, but unfortunately Jaguar is a direct competitor of BMW. BMW and Rolls-Royce cover the "high end" of the market, and Mini covers the "low-end" quite nicely, so a "middle-market" manufacturer is what is needed. You are right about Volvo being a better match, and Ford might be willing to sell Volvo as well, but Ford and Volvo are involved in so many joint ventures that a sale would be difficult at this time. The only mass-market European manufacturer that is not already part of a megafirm (i.e.,VW, Renault, FIAT, etc.) is Peugeot-Citroen. They might also want to consider buying a good Japanese firm like Mazda or Subaru. (After all, Renault's acquisition of Nissan was a success.)

By the way, Rolls-Royce and Bentley are already expanding their model lines. Rolls is working on a car that is smaller and cheaper than the Phantom, and Bentley is planning to introduce in 2009 (or 2010) a brand-new large car to replace the Arnage. (Why anyone would want a car larger than the Bentley Continental Flying Spur is beyond me, but such a market does exist.)

Peugeot-Citroen certainly is part of a "megafirm;" it's called PSA. PSA is also highly involved with Nissan. The French brands wouldn't make much sense for BMW.

BTW, Subaru is owned by Toyota and I don't see Ford dumping Mazda anytime soon- the 6 and 3 platforms are integral in the realm of FoMoCo.

I'm thinking it may be Lotus or TVR.

TVR- perhaps. Never thought of it.

But Lotus is owned by Proton, and I don't think BMW would want to get involved with Proton. VW has considered buying Proton/Lotus and focusing on the Lotus brand, perhaps selling the Proton brand after. But I don't know if anything came of it.

VOLVO

They had damned well better not buy Jaguar.

I think Ford should ditch Mercury, Lincoln and Volvo and overextend Jaguar needlessly. Jaguar should become easily accessible.

S4-PSA is not part of Nissan at all. Renault owns majority shares in Nissan. PSA is a separate entity altogether. It is a remote possibility that BMW would look at PSA.I thought the French government was still part owner but I could be wrong on this. A Japanese aquisition is a possiblity but again remote. Mazda and Subaru are not going to be sold by Ford and Toyota.Unless there is a small Jap or Korean auto company that is not owned by a larger company that would be off the table. The more expensive route would be to start up a fourth brand. I would guess they most likely would resourect Triumph.We know Triumph from the sports cars they sold in the USA. However they did sell sedans in europe. I could see them setting up Triumph below BMW with RWD or FWD sedans and perhaps a new TR sports car.It's a known fact that BMW wants to expand its Oxford facility where it builds the Mini. The other option would be to expand Spartanburg NC facility in the US where it produces SUV's. This would certainly be a help for selling Triumph in the USA. So-I'm leaning towards Triumph as the 4th brand and perhaps Spartanburg as the plant to hedge against monetary currency issues.

Also is the issue of luxury versus near luxury.The was recent articles that BMW shied away from Alfa/Volvo because it does not meet their criteria of another luxury brand. My take is that this is a smoke screen. BMW does NOT need another luxury brand. If they develop a lower price Rolls to compete with Bentley than there would be little point in it.We are talking about the 90-180 grand price range. The top of the line 7 series is already over the 100 grand range. The volume would be very small. I'm not sure of the point in setting up another small volume brand.BMW is looking for large expansion of up to 2 million cars a yr by 2015. The easiest way to get there is by going with a sporty near luxury brand because of the volume potential.

BMW's stated corporate criteria for product development as well as acquisitions is to only enter a market/product segment where they can offer the premium vehicle in that class.

Like they have done with the MINI, RR brands.

I don't see them going for a volume producer because it doesn't fit this stated criteria. That is one of the reasons Rover wasn't a fit and they only have to look at Mercedes experience with Chrysler to reinforce the lessons learned.

And as Porche has consistently shown, you don't have to be a volume producer to make outstanding profits.

That is why they will keep expanding the breadth and depth of the brands they already own. Makes sense to me.