BMW Wants To Tie-Up With – OMG

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt
The on-again, off-again, and forget about it romances between BMW and Daimler are legend. So much legend, that they fill pages on Google. Short version: The tops want some kind of a wedding, the bottoms torpedo any collaboration wherever they can. So if BMW and Daimler won’t be able to tie the knots(s), who can? Wait until you hear who dares. Germany’s Handelsblatt reports that “GM flirts with BMW.” They already cooperate with transmissions and hybrid powertrains (they do?), but now they want to get to third base.The paper heard that there are low-level talks (they often are more productive than high level announcements with no follow-through) “which haven’t progressed too far yet.” GM might be interested in engines and maybe more. Forget about BMW buying into the IPO: “Cross share holdings are out of the question, even if they are only symbolic,” said a BMW spokesperson to the Handelblatt. BMW wants to keep its independence.
Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Seanx37 Seanx37 on Oct 08, 2010

    Couldn't BMW just buy GM at this point? The new GM stock might not be worth the paper it is printed on when they get around to actually selling it.

  • Charly Charly on Oct 08, 2010

    If BMW takes over Saab then this would make sense. Also if you can plug in a BMW engine in a Opel in Saab drag than you can also put one in an Opel/Buick and that saves money

  • Tstag Tstag on Oct 08, 2010

    I can't see BMW selling itself to anyone, but I can see BMW buying some or all of GM. Opel may be attractive because they could rationalise it and because BMW could do with some additional capacity. I could for example see BMW wanting GM's UK plants because their own UK plant (which makes MINI) is at capacity but BMW's engine facility at Hams Hall has lots of excess capacity. At least one UK plant would allow them to move the MINI Clubman line from it's outsourced location in Austria to Britain. The less efficient German plants could then be rationalised. This whole thing may indeed be about Opel although I suspect BMW is considering the lot.

  • Joeveto3 Joeveto3 on Oct 10, 2010

    Hmmmm, Chevy's with iDrive...Bimmers with Ecotecs and Ventiports. Awesome.

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