BMW, Daimler Merger? Not so fast, says BMW CEO

Last week an interesting news popped up all over the auto sites: Mercedes was looking forward to a a close collaboration with BMW as equal partners. Mercedes-Benz CEO, Dieter Zetsche, had in plants a collaboration with BMW beyond an agreement to bundle purchasing of components. While we had our own concerns regarding such partnership and the equally diminishing of the two brands, there was no BMW official statement dissipating these rumors.

But in an interview with Auto News, Dr. Norbert Reithofer, BMW Chief Executive Officer, stepped up to tackle these rumors. He spoke of merging their financial services operations as a danger to both companies: “There are clear limits. The BMW brand, which one study has valued at $24 billion, must not be diluted or the brand identity damaged”.

In the end, BMW fears that no cost savings will be sufficient to make up for ruining the core of their brand and the long-run benefits will be less important. At the same time, Dr. Reihofer said that BMW will continue to maintain an open dialogue with Daimler in further cooperation and BMW is willing to strengthen their ties with the PSA engine partner, a French based company who has developed some engines for the MINI brand.

An important role of a deeper collaboration between BMW and Daimler lies in the hands of the Quandt family, the majority stakeholder in the BMW Group who so far has been reluctant to a possible merger.

Many BMW fans also fear that closer ties or even a merger with Daimler, might have a negative impact as it had on the U.S. based, Chrysler brand.

[Source: Auto News ]

2009 BMW Z4 - Teaser

After months of equal agony and excitement, I have finally had the opportunity to spend some much needed time behind the wheel of the new 2009 BMW Z4. While my goal has always been to drive the higher-end model, sDrive35i, I ended up starting with the entry roadster. I believe by choosing to drive the sDrive30i first, I would be in a better position to give a more accurate assessment on the two models.

While our reviews or test drives are very detailed and well outlined, I will take a few more hours in writing up my Z4 experience and share with you some interesting findings. For now, all I can tell you is that the Z4 has proven to be a fun car to drive, with lots of positive aspects and just a few shortcomings.

Enjoy some of the photos I have taken yesterday and I will be back soon with a comprehensive review along with some cool videos and of course, plenty of new photos.