Last week an interesting news popped up all over the auto sites: Mercedes was looking forward to a a close collaboration with BMW as equal partners. Mercedes-Benz CEO, Dieter Zetsche, had in plants a collaboration with BMW beyond an agreement to bundle purchasing of components. While we had our own concerns regarding such partnership and the equally diminishing of the two brands, there was no BMW official statement dissipating these rumors.
But in an interview with Auto News, Dr. Norbert Reithofer, BMW Chief Executive Officer, stepped up to tackle these rumors. He spoke of merging their financial services operations as a danger to both companies: “There are clear limits. The BMW brand, which one study has valued at $24 billion, must not be diluted or the brand identity damaged”.
In the end, BMW fears that no cost savings will be sufficient to make up for ruining the core of their brand and the long-run benefits will be less important. At the same time, Dr. Reihofer said that BMW will continue to maintain an open dialogue with Daimler in further cooperation and BMW is willing to strengthen their ties with the PSA engine partner, a French based company who has developed some engines for the MINI brand.
An important role of a deeper collaboration between BMW and Daimler lies in the hands of the Quandt family, the majority stakeholder in the BMW Group who so far has been reluctant to a possible merger.
Many BMW fans also fear that closer ties or even a merger with Daimler, might have a negative impact as it had on the U.S. based, Chrysler brand.
[Source: Auto News ]
8 Responses to “BMW, Daimler Merger? Not so fast, says BMW CEO”
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This is the sort of thing I wanted to hear from BMW.
On side note… The PSA enjin for Mini was developed by both companies. BMW supplied the technical wizardry from their own pool of knowledge and PSA mostly build it. This is what I read some years ago, I’m not too shure whats happening in current development.
Damn straight.
I’m not willing to let one of my all time favorite brands become an old-mans, retirement car or a brand based on throwing huge-ass engines into their cars to vindicate a mere point that they are faster than BMWs.
Just because Mercedes-Benz are the pioneers of early technologies, doesn’t mean they are the pioneers of ‘innovative and pinnacle engineering’.
Idiot world. All brands should merge or we’ll keep on driving shit!!! Even BMW isn’t what it could and should be.
dude man bmw must stay independant because merc benz sucks
BMW should stay independent because their imaging is not being threating by other automotive company. They do need to enhance their interior but it’s still sleek and nice.
Although its good to hear the BMW brand protected, I’d rather that they make an agreement to *reinforce* the BMW identity by dividing up their overlaps into characteristics and customers distinctly BMW and distinctly Merc, to better fight the competition. BMW has been changing itself to be all things to customers, which I think erodes its identity and makes its traditional customers make compromises.
For example, I’m unhappy with the weight and height of the new cars, I want a lighter, lower, sportier car, even if its a sedan.
I own a C63 AMG – it is the best car i have driven…. It is a beast!!!!!! I had a m3 before there is no comparison with the quality of the new car. I think this merger will benefit both companies Mercedes with new innovative things and BMW with the quality and consumer commitment
BWM and Mercedes joining wouldn’t be that good of an idea.
To me Mercedes has lost all its appeal. The new SL looks horrible now, and that was the only car i really wanted to own from Mercedes. Now, sadly, there isn’t one car that i’d want from Mercedes.
As for Audi, blah, none of those cars excite me, except for the R8.
The only car that i’d want over BMW is a Porsche Cayman S. (not even the 911, i dont know what it is about the Cayman, but i want one!)