My thoughts is more of a cautious one. BMW failed in its turnaround of the “english patient” Rover when BMW bought the Rover Car Group in the 90s. With the failure went two of its top leaders. Rover was an expensive lesson for BMW in a sense that sometimes some brands and corporate culture do not gel well with the BMW brand & culture.
Rover had a bad brand perception even in England. After all, Rover is a name for a dog. The culture at Rover was also at odds with the BMW culture of efficiency and performance. Rover was a product of an age when labour unions ruled business decisions.
Still, BMW has had some success with its non-BMW brands such as the MINI and Rolls Royce. Both these brands fit nicely within the overall BMW brand strategy. The RR brand slotted nicely in the upmarket (read: royal) segment beyond any luxury brand that BMW, Merc or Jaguar produces today. The MINI was positioned as a fun driving vehicle. An engineering skill that BMW knows very well. After all, BMW is renown as the Ultimate Driving Machine.
But what about Volvo? BMW is keen on driving further growth in its business. Expanding the BMW brand further with more an more variations could risk diluting its brand essense. Many industry observers believe that the BMW brand should remain focussed on its true identity of sporting luxury vehicles. The introduction of MPVs, SUVs and others could tarnish this identity, I believe.
But would the introduction of a brand below this help? BMW thought they could do that with Rover. Volvo in theory could serve as a mass and more family orientated brand… but could BMW pull it off?
