Abstract
Report Overview
BMW, the world' s largest premium car maker, is struggling to keep its books in
the black. Overexposure to the markets which are most severely affected by
recession is taking its toll because of the excessive reliance on sales
generated through financial services. But nevertheless, the company is very
well placed to weather the downturn thanks to a strong cash position, a
portfolio of truly globally sellable vehicles and a strong reputation in the
eyes of customers for delivering state-of-the-art technology.
BMW' s biggest challenge lies in translating the growing sales it achieved over
the last decade in tangible profits for its shareholders. An all-round
strategy has been set by the management board to achieve this, which hinges on
productivity improvements and heavily on cost-cutting steps. The latter
measures are focused on purchasing, which is expected to take the lion' s share
of the cost-reduction, and on R&D. And these two areas are the ones which have
the most potential to cause significant risks for the car maker.
On the procurement side BMW could keep losing favour with suppliers because of
new business practices accompanying the increased price pressure being exerted
on suppliers. On the other hand, less in-house R&D could entail BMW losing one
of its core advantages in the premium segment. However, both sectors will be
affected by the management' s decision to set up appropriate targeted alliances
with other OEMs, even Stuttgart archrival Daimler, to share the burden of
capital intensive activities such as R&D and to spot synergy savings from
joint procurement.
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