Sun Ra

this from autoextremeist this week on BMW's pride before the fall. and Weidi"king"??



Helmut Panke, CEO BMW.

We just about fell off of our chairs when we read Helmut Panke's keynote remarks from last week's Automotive News World Congress. Espousing his "four foundation pillars" for successful companies, Panke laid out his vision for what makes companies great - obviously referring to his company and his job performance. So, we thought it would be fun to list his "pillars," followed by our assessment of how BMW has - or hasn't - followed them. 1. It must know its strengths. Is this why BMW has continued along a dangerous path of more volume and more dealers (for more profits, obviously) - while launching new product after new product with serious technical glitches that have overrun dealers' service departments and left a trail of pissed-off owners who more often than not are left muttering, "I'll never be back"? 2. It must maintain a tight focus. Wait a minute, does this explain why BMWs don't feel like BMWs anymore, but rather, like technical exercises totally devoid of soul? 3. It must understand the concept of brand. Understand the concept of brand? That's a good one. This must be why you've allowed Chris Bangle to run amuck and destroy BMW's design presence literally overnight. It's clear that "understanding the concept of brand" is the last thing that has been going on at BMW. 4. It must develop only products that support the brand. Really? Overwrought 7 Series, gimmicky 5 Series, buck-board X3s and now the latest answer to the question that nobody's asking - the 1 Series? As best as we can tell, Helmut, you're the latest example of a car executive taking the lead in "The Emperor Has No Clothes." In its quest to put a BMW in every garage (in some parts of the country they're becoming as ubiquitous as Camrys) - BMW has lost its grip on its authenticity. That's your word for the day, Helmut. Repeat after us - a-u-t-h-e-n-t-i-c-i-t-y. It's what you've managed to destroy during your tenure at BMW. Sure, you have some very rich and happy dealers, people whom you can always count on to tell you how wonderful you are, and you're still the darling of too many automotive journalists who continue to give BMW props for past glories, but what goes up and stays up for far too long must come back down, Helmut. With a thud. We deal with The Future around here, Helmut, not something we gather you spend much time thinking about, what with your constant canonization in the press and being the subject of a much anticipated business book, "Driven: Inside BMW, The Most Admired Car Company in the World" by ace USA Today automotive reporter David Kiley (due in March from publisher John Wiley & Sons), which will firmly place you in the pantheon of Great Business Leaders - but The Future from our perspective is that BMW has "jumped the shark," and the journey from here on will be one of acceleration - down the slippery slope toward "me too" mediocrity. We wish you well with your plan to add dealer "points" like popcorn and with your aggressive model proliferation strategy, but know this, Helmut - almost every move you've made has set BMW up for future headaches of gargantuan proportions. And it's all because you've basically ignored your own "four foundation pillars." How ironic is that?

macfly

The good news is the board have asked Bangle to leave, and Bangle's main (sole?) champion was Panke. Makes one wonder whose walking the plank next?

Having recently come to my GT3 from a heavily modified track day M3smg I can say that the quality and feel of the Gt3 is in a different league. The cars may be about as quick as each other, but having now owned both the Pcar really does have a lot more character, and I wouldn't got back to BMW from here.