BMWs Launch of its Mini Brand in US - Case Study Example

The company hosts three important brands as part of its production, they being BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. Since the inception of its brands in the global market the company has always focused on one most important thing i.e. none other than providing sheer driving pleasure to its customers. BMW's MINI - The MINI brand of the BMW is a wonderful creation of the company which wins many hearts and turns many heads. This brand of the company is something extraordinary and also refreshingly different.

The brand was basically targeted at the younger generation and the brand undoubtedly became a cult brand in the market within very few days of its launch in the market. Since its launch in the market, the brand has lost none of its youthful charm. MINI is part of a lifestyle that is cosmopolitan and confident, ready for everythingiii. The global automobile industry is the industry and area of commerce in which automobile models are planned, designed, manufactured, and marketed. The automobile industry is concerned with profits and competition; with consumer demands for styling, safety, and efficiency; and with labor relations and manufacturing efficiency.

From the 1970s the automotive industry has been dominated by the United States, Western Europe and Japan, three geographical areas known collectively as the Triad. Such domination served to intensify the degree of competition that already existed as firms sought to achieve a global presence in markets that were becoming increasingly fragmented as consumer tastes diversified. From its inception until 1978, the U.S. automotive industry showed a steady expansion, with the exception of the years during World War II when its plants were converted to the production of war materials.

In 1978, motor vehicle production reached an all-time high of 12.9 million units, including about 9.2 million cars; since then production has fluctuated. In the early 1980s the industry was in a recession, producing fewer cars in 1982 than in any year since 1958. From 1990 to 1992 the industry experienced another recession. In 1996, U.S. motor vehicle production totaled 11.8 million, including 6.1 million cars and 5.7 million trucks; North American motor vehicle production, including all vehicles made by domestic and foreign companies in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, reached more than 15.

4 million-8.2 million cars and 7.3 million trucks. In the mid-1990s, the U.S. auto industry showed signs of recoveryiv. To try to improve their global positions in terms of output and market share almost all of the major firms in the industry embarked on a period of consolidation in the 1980s and continued this in the 1990s. Ford acquired Aston Martin, Mazda, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo. Volkswagen gained Skoda and Seat. General Motors took major interests Saab, Suzuki, Isuzu and Daewoo. Finally, Renault merged with Nissan, Dacia and Samsung.

The most salient point arising for the purposes of this paper is the firms which bought firms in economies where they had little previous presence as part of their strategy of going global. Essentially then DaimlerChrysler was