BMW rules out acquisitions – for now
BMW Group has ruled out buying a rival or creating a fourth brand in the short term but says it may still look to make acquisitions in the future. The German manufacturer has been linked with Ford-owned marques Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo in recent months.
Announcing the company’s new strategy following a review of the business, chairman Norbert Reithofer said the group had “explored all of the options for future growth, including potential acquisitions or the creation of a fourth brand” to sit alongside BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce.
But he added: “This would require the new brand to be a perfect fit for the company and its strengths. [It] would have to make at least the same positive contribution to earnings as the existing automobile business. However, an in-depth analysis found that none of the evaluated brands currently meets these requirements. But in principle we will keep acquisitions on our agenda.”
BMW also predicted that it would sell more than 2 million vehicles per year by 2020 and save more than £4m by 2012. The group sold a record 1.37 million motorcycles and cars in 2006.
