BMW finance head Stefan Krause has told a German newspaper that, despite the Rover debacle, BMW would not rule out another major acquisition in the future.
Speaking in an interview with the Börsen-Zeitung, Krause said “the split from Rover seven years ago does not mean that we would completely rule out considering any alternative acquisitions”. Krause said he could imagine a cooperation with other vehicle manufacturers in the future but that “at the moment there are no cooperations being discussed.”
Krause said that BMW’s main problem at the moment is the weak dollar. “Our sales in the US have risen so much in the last few years that the problem has only just materialised.”
With the planned increase in production capacity at BMW’s Spartanbug plant (from 140,000 to 200,000 units a year), BMW is hoping to minimise the effect of the weak dollar with ‘natural hedging’ rather than financial hedging.
“With the current weakness of the dollar and the yen, European vehicle manufacturers have an extreme competitive disadvantage, that puts a big strain on results. The response from German companies in particular is enormous efficiency improvements. If the dollar and yen exchange rates change in the future, there would be a corresponding positive effect on our results,” said Krause.
