Originally Posted by
LivesNearCostco
If BMW is going to continue to chase big unit numbers, it needs another sub-brand like Mini or Rolls Royce to avoid brand dilution. Toyota has Lexus & Scion. GM has Chevy (performance or all-American), Buick (China), Cadillac (luxury) and GMC (trucks/SUVs). When Daimler bought Chrysler, that didn't work out too well, but they still have Smart cars and a few truck brands.
Perhaps the king of this is VW. Not only do they have Volkswagon, Audi and Porsche in their stable, but also Bentley, Skoda, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Ducatti and Scania. Maybe that's too many brands, but if GM has 4 and VW has 7 (for cars) I think BMW needs more than 3, isstead of having the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 series cars pus the X SAVs.
The 2 big questions are..
1) Should BMW's be the driving performance brand or should that be new sub-brand? ?
2) Is it too late for BMW to make this change?
And when driving enthusiasts leave BMW going, where do they go (besides to older BMWs)? Those with lots of money can of course go to Porsche, Audi R8, Tesla, Nissan GTR, McLaren, Italian Exotic, etc. But what about the rest? To Toyobarus? Ford Mustang? Mazda 3?