BMW’s Unique positioning strategy

About the Company

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, better known as BMW, is a prestigious German multinational corporation renowned for crafting luxury cars and motorcycles. The company markets automobiles under the BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce brands, while its motorcycles proudly bear the BMW Motorrad label.

In 2017, BMW ranked as the 14th largest global vehicle producer, crafting 2,279,503 vehicles, and by 2022, it ascended to the 7th position in terms of revenue. BMW boasts a remarkable motorsport heritage, particularly in touring cars, sports cars, and the renowned Isle of Man TT race

Unique positioning strategy

Early in the 1980s, BMW launched its initial aggressive competitive drive into the American market, positioning the company as the sole manufacturer of vehicles that combined elegance and performance.

At that time, consumers saw luxury cars as lacking performance, and performance cars as lacking luxury. By relying on the design of its cars, its German heritage, and other aspects of a well-conceived marketing program, BMW was able to simultaneously achieve: (1) a point-of-difference in luxury and a point-of-parity in performance concerning U.S. performance cars like the Chevy Corvette, and (2) a point-of-difference on performance and a point-of-parity on luxury concerning U.S. luxury cars like Cadillac.

The catchphrase “The Ultimate Driving Machine” was a creative way to describe the newly formed umbrella category of premium performance automobiles.

Determining the target market, the type of competition, and the best points of parity and points of differentiation for brand associations are necessary before choosing a positioning. In other words, marketers need to understand who their target market is, who their primary rivals are, how their brand compares to them, and how it differs from them. BMW needs connections to its rivals to compete fairly in the high-end auto market. These Points of Parity are components that are necessary for a brand to be regarded as a respectable rival in its particular category. BMW must continue to innovate to compete against other luxury manufacturers like Audi.

However, brands need to develop distinctive attributes or benefits (Points of Difference), to attract customers and have a competitive advantage over competitors.

Straddle Positioning is one of the positioning strategies adopted by marketers to position their products in two categories simultaneously. In straddle positioning, marketers use the blend of POP (points of parity) and POD (points of difference) to arrive at the categories for which they are positioning their products.

BMW’s Position Today

In the first half of 2023, the BMW Group sold 5,867 units of automobiles in India, an increase of 5% year over year and a result of record volumes. The company also announced that sales of its high-end motorbikes sold under the BMW Motorrad brand increased by more than 50% to 4,667 units between January and June of this year.
The firm achieved its highest-ever half-yearly sales in India in the first half of the year, selling 5,476 units of vehicles bearing the BMW brand and 391 units of the MINI brand.