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J.D. Thornton

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (english: Bavarian Motor Works), more commonly known as BMW, produces motorcycles and upscale automobiles. In 2007, BMW was the 14th largest Automaker by production volume.^[1] The company sells vehicles under three luxury brands: BMW, Mini, and Rolls Royce, and in 2007 it had profits of €330 million on sales of €53.2 billion.^[2] While BMW's sales volume has continued growing despite the worldwide automotive downturn in 2008, the US economic slowdown and weakening dollar have hit BMW hard because the U.S. is the company's largest sales market. The company has offset some of the weakness in the US and Western European by exporting cars to emerging markets where growth continues explosively.^[3]

Despite its many performance models, BMW has aggressively and effectively tapped demand for smaller fuel efficient vehicles. Demand for models such as the Mini and the 1-series has grown at double digit rates through 2008.^[4] Since the early 2000s, BMW has been one of the first automakers to utilize flexible factories, which can produce more than one vehicle model at the same time.^[5] This development has allowed the company to meet shifts in market demand more effectively than competitors, allowing sales to keep growing. Despite this, the company will still be challenged to retain its market position as the international market for luxury cars grows ever more competitive, as many automakers, such as Hyundai with its Genesis sedan or Nissan's Infiniti brand, are increasingly successful in realizing the higher margins earned on luxury vehicles.^[6] This scenario is especially worrying for BMW considering that J.D. Power ranked BMW's overall 2008 initial quality below the industry average, far behind luxury brands such as Lexus, Porsche, Mercedes, and Infiniti; all of which are in the top quartile.^[7]

[edit] Business Overview

BMW produces motorcycles and upscale automobiles under the BMW, Mini, and Rolls Royce brands. The Mini brand includes two models, both of which are small fuel-efficient hatchbacks. The BMW brand includes 10 model types, which are sold with a diversity of engines and other modifications. These vehicles range from the small 1-series all the way up to the large luxury 7-series sedan and X5 SUV. Finally, the Rolls Royce brand currently produces three models, two coupes and a sedan, the phantom. In addition, BMW offers financing for its vehicles through its financial services arm. As of mid-2008 BMW employed 105,802 employees at 17 production facilities in Germany, Austria, Great Britain, the U.S., South Africa, and China.^[8] The company also assembles cars from prefabricated components in Egypt, Indonesia, Russia, Malaysia, Thailand, and India.^[9]

BMW Sales by Model 2007^[10]

2007 BMW Sales by Region^[11]

BMW Revenue and Profitability 2003-2007^[12]

[edit] Financial Services

BMW's financial arm has grown considerably over the past five years; with the loan portfolio growing from 1,623,000 contracts in 2003, to 2,630,000 at the end of 2007.^[13] During 2007, 53.8% of BMW Financial's car loans were made in Europe, 32.9% in the US, and 13.3% in Asia/Oceania/Africa.^[14] In the same year, 38.2% of financing contracts were leases, with the rest made for car purchases.^[15] Despite the continued expansion of its portfolio, during the first half of 2008 BMW Financial's profitability fell 68% as economic slowdowns in Europe and the US increased defaults while also causing resale values for used cars to fall.^[16]

[edit] Trends and Forces

[edit] BMW in Emerging Markets

While new car registrations and sales have stagnated in Western Europe, the US, and Japan, BMW's sales in emerging economies of the BRIC countries have soared over the last five years.^[17] For example, since 2003 BMW's sales in Russia have quadrupled, and increased another 33% in the first half of 2008.^[18] Through the first half of 2008, BMW sales in other parts of Eastern Europe and India grew at over 10%, while sales in China grew by 25.2%.^[19] BMW motorcycles play an important role in these markets by exposing consumers to the BMW brand early with a lower cost product in the hope that if this consumer grows wealthier he will remain loyal to the BMW brand and later purchase higher margin cars.

[edit] Importance of Fuel Efficiency

While BMW is a producer of larger high-performance vehicles, as concerns over Global Climate Change have grown alongside Oil Prices, BMW has been placed under a variety of pressures from regulators and consumers to improve fuel efficiency. While BMW is currently developing Hybrid and Fuel Cell Vehicles, the immediate mainstay of BMW's campaign to improve fuel efficiency is a program known as "EfficientDynamics." This program utilizes existing modifications of existing technologies to improve efficiency. The major aspects of this program include: improving engine efficiency by using computer optimized direct injection, automatic engine shutoff when the vehicle is not moving, regenerative breaking, electric power steering (more efficient than standard hydraulic systems), improved aerodynamics, and low resistance tires.^[20] Similarly, sales of BMW's more efficient Diesel powered cars has increased steadily from 29% of sales in 2003 to 41% in 2007.^[21] Although starting from far behind other European automakers, BMW improved its overall fleet efficiency by 7.3% between 2006 and 2007, which is four times the average improvement made by other producers.^[22] Despite this improvement, at the end of 2007 BMW's average fleet efficiency was the second worst of the european automakers, followed only by DAIMLERCHRYSLER AG (DAI).^[23]

[edit] Smaller Cars mean Shrinking Margins

BMW makes the most money selling its larger, more luxurious automobiles.^[24] Yet as Oil Prices continue to increase BMW has responded to consumer demands by producing smaller vehicles such as the 1-series, mini cooper, and compact X3 SUV. Over the past several years sales increases for these smaller vehicles has been the main driver for the company's overall sales growth. As a result BMW's margins have been shrinking for the past decade, being 9.2% in 2002, 6.4% in 2007, and expected at about 4% for 2008.^[25] This trend toward smaller cars is expected to continue as energy prices remain high, presenting a challenge for the company's long term level of profitability.

[edit] Commodity Prices

• Steel: One of the main ingredients in cars is steel, so increases in steel prices reduce BMW's margins. BMW cannot easily substitute another material for steel to reduce its costs, unlike almost any other input into car production, even labor.

• Aluminum also affect BMW's margins as this metal is also a significant production input, accounting for around 300 pounds of a new car's weight.

• Oil prices: Through mid-2008 oil prices increased dramatically. Consequently, the cost of gasoline doubled inflating the day-to-day cost of car ownership. Since consumers buy cars only infrequently, rising oil prices have only a limited impact on year-to-year car sales, but over time they cut into the industry's sales. Although oil prices have since moderated they will likely remain definitive in the future as the global economy recovers.

[edit] Competition

BMW's major competitors are DAIMLERCHRYSLER AG (DAI), Lexus (Toyota), Audi (Volkswagen, Infiniti (Nissan), and Cadillac (GM) However, BMW is unique amongst automakers because unlike these companies which make commercial trucks, lower market vehicles, or even buses, BMW focuses exclusively on the production of premium personal automobiles and motorcycles, under a small number of brands. The successful development of the Mini has allowed BMW to increase its market share and exposure to the small car market considerably without compromising the cache of the BMW brand.

Daimler AG U.S. Market Share^[26]

2007 Worldwide Vehicle Market Share Data^[27]

2007 European Automotive Market Share Data^[28]

[edit] References

1. ↑ OICA 2007 World Ranking of Manufacturers
2. ↑ BMW 2008 Annual Report
3. ↑ Seeking Alpha: BMW Shifts Cars From U.S.: A Sign of Decoupling?
4. ↑ Autospies.com: BMW widens sales gap over Audi in May
5. ↑ USAutoparts: The inside story of how BMW's are made...
6. ↑ Seekingalpha: Will Hyundai's Luxury Car Be Like the VW Phaeton?
7. ↑ Autoblog: 2008 JD Power Initial Quality Ratings
8. ↑ BMW Group
9. ↑ BMW Group
10. ↑ BMW 2007 Annual Report Overview, page 18-19
11. ↑ BMW 2007 Annual Report Overview, page 11
12. ↑ BMW 2007 Annual Report Overview
13. ↑ BMW 2007 Annual Report, page 24
14. ↑ BMW 2007 Annual Report, page 24
15. ↑ BMW 2007 Annual Report, page 24
16. ↑ BMW 2008 Q2 Report, page 3
17. ↑ BMW 2008 Q2 Quarterly Report, page 5
18. ↑ TIME: Risky Business in Russia
19. ↑ BMW 2008 Q2 Quarterly Report, page 5-6
20. ↑ BMWEfficientDynamics
21. ↑ BMW 2007 Annual Report, page 18
22. ↑ The Economist: The road ahead
23. ↑ The Economist: The European car industry
24. ↑ WSJ: Europe's Luxury Car Makers Feel Pain
25. ↑ WSJ: Europe's Luxury Car Makers Feel Pain
26. ↑ Autoobserver: 2007- A Historic Year for U.S. Vehicle Sales
27. ↑ OICA: World Ranking of Manufacturers Year 2007
28. ↑ Suite 101: Top Selling Cars in Europe in 2007