Although most probably the BMW executives are praying in silence to all the saints for an increase, they confessed they just hope to be able at least to maintain their market share this year, Just-auto.com reported.
According to group sales chief Ian Robertson at the Detroit Auto Show, BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce, all three brands combined, managed to occupy 2.3 percent of the US market in 2008, with 303,000 sold cars. These figures might be encouraging for a luxury automaker, but in BMW's case, they are dealing with 10 percent drop when compared to 2007.
What's more, Robertson confessed to a German Press Agency that the company was still considering whether to ask for government guarantees for its in-house bank. This idea came from their co-national Volkswagen that has already screamed for help to its banks. Apparently, all manufacturers encounter severe difficulties in financing car credit.
However, the real surprise came from BMW's intention to deepen ties with Daimler and Fiat as Robertson claims. In an effort to understand what BMW and Fiat could possibly have in common except for the name “cars” for their products, Robertson said the German car manufacturer was exploring the possibility to develop a shared small car platform with Fiat. Although the two companies signed an agreement in July last year to develop cars for the Mini and Alfa Romeo brands, he claimed it was too early to give more details.
Of course, as soon as we find out about this possible “partnership”, we'll let you know if you come back on Autoevolution.
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