If someone hasn't already given you the website, the BMW Group webseite has a lot of information. If you wanted to "think" like the company, you would tout about it's high corporate sustainability index and it's commitment to the environment. Statistics like how 95% of a BMW vehicle can be recycled and how 15% of all plastics in a vehicle come from recycled material are sure to please the statisticians. EfficientDynamics* technologies such as Auto Start-stop, Brake regeneration, Shift point display, and adaptive aerodynamics are standard on every BMW. And BMW Manufacturing in Spartanburg uses innovative techniques to reduce CO² emissions and reuse resources. Well, all their factories are innovative but I suppose folks in the US will care about US manufacturing.

FYI: Audi is not really an independent company. VW owns Audi, Seat, Lamborghini, Skoda, Bentley, Bugatti, and will merge with Porsche in 2011 (after a nasty fight). Most car companies, including BMW, don't have a single competitor in today's world market. Globalisation and trade make competition more fierce, although it varies by market. For example, whereas Japanese automakers seem like a big deal in the US, they're almost non-existent in Europe. (Their mediocre diesels don't help).

BMW Group

*not applicable to NA models

Just to pose a counter-argument, although their materials may be eco-friendly, the vehicles themselves are not. One of the threats that BMW faces in the near future is the tighting of environmental regulations relating to cars, in particular to EU nations. I will post article when I get home later, but do you think BMW will be able to overcome this challenge and still be competitive?

BMW/Audi Billboard War

Are there more ads like this? How old was this campaign or was it recent?

Plenty more, I'm surprised you never saw this before

What makes you think their cars are not environmentally friendly? BMW just started selling the special 320d EfficientDynamics Edition, with a taller final drive and special aerodynamic wheel design. It is one of the most fuel efficient vehicles sold on the road and consumes only 4,1 l/100km, nearly 58 US mpg and right on par with the Toyota Prius. CO² output is just 109 g/km. That's less than any engine offered in any Honda Civic (European model), Citroen C3, or VW Golf.

you might enjoy this article. BMWs strength and "competitive advantage" over its competitors is their maintenance program. I know a bunch of people who bought BMW cars just because of their program

Competitive advantage: “No-Worry Maintenance” programs | Beyond the KM

i would also mention how although they have taken longer than most car companies to produce hybrid and diesel cars (in the United states) that their efficient cars now have an edge on the competition. A hybrid X6 with close to 500 HP? id love to see Toyota do that!

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BMWCCA

This is the article that hinted at BMW's immediate threats.

"The EU Commission and the EU Parliament have adopted a directive (EURO 4) that establishes
increasingly stringent emission standards for passenger and light commercial vehicles for the financial
year 2005 and thereafter. Under the directive, manufacturers would be responsible for the emissions
performance of these vehicles for five years or 100,000 kilometers, whichever occurs first. A more
stringent emission standard (EURO 5) is also in final stages of discussion within the EU legislative
bodies which will be effective in 2009.The EU Commission intends to define even more stringent
emission standards (EURO 6), which, if adopted, would become mandatory around 2014 or 2015.
These regulations would impose additional costs on the company's operations."

I'm not exactly sure how this affects BMW more than other car companies that operate in the EU, but it's something that I will have to look into. It comes from a reliable source, so I can imagine there is some degree of truth in it. Not sure what everyone else thinks.

I'm also having trouble finding threats and weaknesses that are inclusive to BMW only. The above article can also affect Daimler as well. Another interesting article is concerning the currency risk in BMW's portfolio because it operates in so many countries... however, that could apply to Daimler as well, couldn't it? Are there no threats/weaknesses unique to BMW or am I just missing something?

Sethro, I did a quick search, any truth in the talks that Audi raised on a new billboard with the R8?