Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob  Having said that about Maybach, I guess it could also be asked, what value does Rolls-Royce add to BMW? |
Short answer Rob: Rolls Royce doesn't need to add value to BMW, except when it comes to the bottom line. So long as Rolls Royce is in the black, it's a wonderful brand to have as part of the BMW portfolio.
Long answer [in account exec talk]- The experience and capabilities of BMW coupled with the prestige and heritage of the Rolls Royce brand create some very natural opportunities to leverage existing assets into areas of enhanced profitability and interoperability. BMW and Rolls Royce can synergize their existing knowledge base to create vehicles that are more compelling, more capable and more profitable than ever before.
At the end of the day, BMW has
zero need to align their brand with Rolls Royce. Zip, zilch, zero. In fact, both brands have everything to lose by letting one brand contaminate the other.
From my vantage point, the best move DC can do with Maybach is the same that was done with Smart's extened product range. Count your losses and pull the plug. Trying to leverage the cache of Maybach onto a cache-rich brand like Mercedes is sending mixed signals and is a road to nowhere - fast.