BMW Puts 4th Brand on Hold

Sections: In the Press Nov 23rd, 2007 9 Comments

Quite a topic of discussion here for a while, Leftlanenews reports that a 4th brand from MINI parent BMW is on hold, for now.

BMW has not ruled adding a fourth brand to its automobile family, but any such plans are on hold for the time being, BMW USA boss Tom Purves said at the LA Auto Show.

BMW’s current brands are BMW, MINI and Rolls- Royce. Earlier this year, there was speculation BMW might acquire Volvo or Alfa Romeo as a front-wheel-drive partner to MINI. BMW later decided neither company would be a good match.

[ BMW Puts Fourth Brand on Hold - For Now ] Leftlanenews.com

Written By: DB

Jon

I am actually rather happy with this decision. I thought it would be interesting to see what they would have come up with Alfa but believe its a good choice on their part.
TSizemore3

No Triumph roadster? Grrrrr….
Jon

Believe BMW already has bought the Truimph brand to bring in house, believe this mention was buying an currently producing manufacturer as a 4th brand.
MINI_fan

I think BMW will be adding Triumph to their portfolio sometime in the future, because the new CO2 regulations in EU state that every manufacturer’s average emissions should be lower than 140gr/km, something that BMW’s current range (all brands considered) cannot accomplish. So they need another brand that will have a range of compact vehicles with small engines. MINI is not suitable because it’s lineup is not mainstream enough. So I think that instead of making a FWD BMW (info on that has leaked on the net) they will brand it as a Triumph. Also, the increased dimensions of the next Z4, provide grounds for a new smaller roadster (rumored MINI roadster), that because of the character of the MINI brand, would make more sense as a Triumph. I would expect all these new cars to be small sized and 1.4-2.0lt engined with very efficient engines, even hybrid, to lower the average emissions value of the brand.
MINI_fan

We might even see an Isetta city car, like the Smart Fortwo or the new Toyota iQ. I don’t think that BMW has not realised the dynamics of the Smart brand (at least in Europe) and they might surprise all of us with another rebirth of an icon.
dave

fwd triumph? no!!!
GregW

Phew! Thank goodness for that! Why buy back Land Rover from the people you off-loaded it to for next to nothing? Seems BMW is on a path similar to BMC who became BLMC then retired old British brands Morris, Riley, Wolseley, Triumph, to name the few.
http://deleted cct1

Also, the increased dimensions of the next Z4, provide grounds for a new smaller roadster (rumored MINI roadster), that because of the character of the MINI brand, would make more sense as a Triumph.

Actually the increased dimensions of the next Z4 leave room for a BMW brand that can compete with the Miata/S2000–I think its much, much more likely we’ll see a Z2 to fill that niche rather than a Triumph or MINI roadster.
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