BMW to Show Alternative Fuel Cars At L.A. Auto Show
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Q&A with Ian Robertson, BMW’s Board Member for Sales and Marketing
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By Marty Bernstein
AIADA Contributing Editor
Pebble Beach, California – Six months ago, 49 year old Ian Robertson was promoted from Chairman and CEO of Rolls-Royce Motorcars and became a member of the BMW AG board of management in charge of sales and marketing. He is the first British person to sit on the board of management in the history of BMW.
The consummate car guy, Robertson’s track record is a benchmark of success in the automobile industry. As managing director of BMW South Africa, sales quadrupled under his watch. In 2005 he joined Rolls-Royce and subsequently directed the company though two new product launches and a 25 percent increase in sales. Prior to his promotion to Munich, he was leading the Rolls-Royce team in the introduction of the new RR4, a smaller Rolls-Royce scheduled for introduction later this year.
Robertson took the time, while judging and presenting at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance this week, to discuss the immediate future of BMW in the United States.
AIADA: Congratulations on your promotion. Will you have to learn to speak German?
Ian Robertson: I understand a lot of German and speak a bit of it too. I do have staff briefings, and my colleagues allow me to call time out if necessary.
AIADA: It’s not news that the automobile business in America is going through very difficult economic times. What is your assessment of the situation?
IR: I think a number of factors have come together and that’s quite unusual. We’ve all been in this industry a long time and you see difficulties in a particular market, but today we have gas prices at an all time high, we have commodity prices at all time highs, we have a credit crunch which has manifested itself extremely critically, all of which has started to impact markets around the world. And of course we have the currency issues with the dollar. Put all these factors together and you have a complex scenario with extreme headwinds.
AIADA: What is BMW’s outlook for the future?
IR: One thing for certain, those headwinds will change. They won’t all change together, but they are easing somewhat on some fronts and may be easing quicker than anticipated. For example, the dollar has strengthened quite a lot in the last ten days. Will it continue? I don’t know. Will it weaken again? Possibly.
AIADA: What has been the impact on BMW’s business?
IR: If you look at our markets around the world we still see positive news in many of them. Our sales are up over last year. We’ve made a number of decisions to insure our profitability in those markets and we are seeing growth in some new markets as well. Overall, the next six month will be challenging, but BMW is in good shape and we are building on success for the future as well.
AIADA: Last year BMW introduced its hydrogen vehicle. What are other fuel options are being explored?
IR: If you look at all the fuel alternatives that are available, there are many under development that have not actually seen the light of day yet. I hear people say ‘Is it going to be a hybrid, is it going to be an all electric car, is it going to be one that runs on some other fuel?’ The answer is, this industry has been around for over 100 years and we are extremely good at developing technologies due to circumstances. Over the next two years we will see lots of technologies starting to appear.
AIADA: How is BMW proceeding with the various options?
IR: As a technological leader, BMW has a number of ideas but we are not putting all our focus on one technology. We have multiple ideas that are coming through. Some of them will be more successful than others, I am sure.
AIADA: When will this new technology be shown? At the Paris Auto Show?
IR: You will have to wait to see what we show in Paris, but one thing is for certain: you will see in LA some alternative fuel vehicles that will come to market.
AIADA: Thanks Ian, see you in LA.
