Home » Car Reviews » BMW » BMW 7 Series » 2003 BMW 7 Series Luxury Sport Sedan
2003 BMW 7 Series Luxury Sport Sedan
…Continued
BMW moves decisively into the luxury market with a car of the future
Jump to page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
Karl Ludvigsen, an auto analyst in London is quoted in Time, contends that a carmaker need not be huge to survive. Rather, he says, "you've got to be big in the segments in which you compete, and you've got to be competitive in those segments globally." |
Daimler coupled with Chrysler, Renault bought Nissan, VW has acquired just about every small company in Europe, GM gobbled up just about every Asian company that had not already linked with Toyota, and Ford scooped up Volvo, Jaguar and anything that smacked of British heritage.
Everybody mused that it was just a matter of time before the biggies gobbled up BMW and Honda, and maybe even Porsche. Yet here we are in 2002, and among the most successful players in the auto industry are . . . BMW, Honda and Porsche. Suppliers to these increasingly sophisticated companies are taking on an ever-larger share of development costs.
Besides, BMW is going to get a shot at the suppliers' best technology because suppliers want to be associated with them. Porsche even has an engineering-services division that supplies other automakers with high-end equipment. First-quarter sales set records, especially in North America, where BMW is selling more cars than Mercedes.
DaimlerChrysler chairman Schrempp may be proved right over the next decade, but what's decisive now is not so much size as (surprise!) sound management. Which car company is nimble enough to hop in and out of new market niches and still provide high-quality, sexy cars that people aspire to own?
Mike Flynn, an auto expert at the University of Michigan, observes that new technology is only one of the elements - including styling and reliability - that make a car attractive. "Companies like BMW and Honda," he says, "offer products that keep them successful." So does Porsche, where sales are up 16% so far this year. It produces a mere 48,815 cars a year - vs. 1 million for Mercedes and 1.8 million for all of DaimlerChrysler - but at an enviable 11.9% profit margin.
What's special about BMW is its management depth and persistence. Two years ago, the company floundered when its attempt to get big - the 1994 takeover of Britain's Rover - went awry. A combination of a bad choice for the wrong reasons, and bad management decisions resulted in the shedding of Land Rover at a good price to Ford, and a gift of Rover to anyone who would take it. The may come out smelling rosy with by keeping the appealing Mini project.
Jump to page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
