Europe needs to focus on the raft of free trade agreements currently being negotiated with super trading blocks such as the US and the recent deal with South Korea, said BMW.
Speaking at today’s (12 June) Automotive News Europe Congress in Paris, BMW sales and marketing chief, Ian Robertson, outlined the requirement to look at what such deals can offer automakers.
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“Europe has to have a focus on free trade agreements,” said Robertson. “We have seen that of course, with South Korea signing a Free Trade Agreement.
“FTAs are often seen as a threat or a risk, when clearly they are an opportunity and maybe that opportunity should be grasped quickly.”
Robertson also called for industrial and environmental policy in Europe to be made in tandem, highlighting BMW’s success in reducing its C02 footprint by around 30% for example, while emphasising emerging markets’ increased focus on the climate.
“China is clearly weaving into its industrial policy, its city policy,” he said.
The top executive acknowledged the economic climate in Europe was challenging, with significant disparities between north and south, although even BMW’s home market was struggling somewhat.
“Germany is definitely in decline [and] German confidence is being somewhat undermined,” he said.
“The only market moving forward is the UK. It is more surprising because the underpinning effect has not been too strong.”
Brand awareness has always been a key plank of BMW’s marketing mix with Robertson noting the automaker had enjoyed “a lot of success” in that field with an estimate of US$25bn being the value ascribed to the car brand value.
