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In Reply to: Soon be driving Fords..... posted by Patrick on April 09, 2000 at 14:55:44:
Industry sources said it could not be ruled out that the rumour had been spread by U.S. auto group Ford , cited by the Sunday Times as being in talks with the Quandts along with Europe's biggest car maker Volkswagen AG .
After rival General Motors' stake swap alliance with Italy's Fiat last month, Ford was looking to strike its own European deal and would be keen to distract attention from its plans, the sources said. BMW also denied it was planning to sell its information technology systems arm Softlab after Focus magazine reported Deutsche Telekom AG , Siemens AG and accountants Ernst & Young were interested in buying the unit.
Focus said BMW would reach a decision on the unit, valued at about 750 million marks ($366.6 million), on April 14.
Takeover speculation has swirled around the Munich-based car maker since it decided last month to cut its losses at Rover and put it up for sale, placing tens of thousands of British jobs at risk and sparking outrage from politicians and unions.
With BMW's destiny in the hands of the Quandt family, who hold two seats on the Bavarian group's supervisory board, its future as one of the smaller car makers left in a rapidly consolidating global industry is far from secure, analysts warn.
BMW INSISTS IT WILL REMAIN INDEPENDENT
But in a process that has recurred almost weekly since the firm's U-turn on Rover, Gaul repeated the Quandts' rejection of persistent speculation they were holding talks with Ford, which has agreed to buy off-road vehicle maker Land Rover from BMW.
Citing car industry insiders, the Sunday Times reported the Quandts, who have held a key stake in BMW for four decades, were in joint talks with Ford and VW to sell their holding for "at least" 20 billion pounds ($31.59 billion).
The paper quoted an unnamed BMW executive as saying Ford was negotiating in turn with VW to divide up BMW's luxury brands -- with Ford to take the BMW marque and VW Rolls Royce.
Former BMW Chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder is due to join VW's management board this summer, while his one-time rival on BMW's board Wolfgang Reitzle is in charge of Ford's luxury brands.
BMW's Chief Executive Joachim Milberg said on Saturday there was no question of VW getting its hands on Rolls Royce.
In an interview with mass-circulation daily Bild, in which he said he was personally sorry for placing thousands of British jobs at risk by ditching Rover, Milberg said neither he nor BMW were under threat, with both well positioned for the future.
On Friday, BMW revised upwards its delivery figures for the first quarter of the year to 309,203 vehicles from a previously reported 302,000.
BMW was set for continued double-digit output growth, Bild quoted Milberg as saying. The BMW brand contributed major profit growth last year before losses at Rover weighed, as a strong pound and low demand for Rover cars in Britain took their toll. BMW's decision last month to sell Rover to venture capital firm Alchemy partners, who plan to slash output and axe thousands of jobs, has led to British government efforts to persuade BMW to consider alternative bids.
Industry sources said on Thursday that a new consortium, including former Rover boss John Towers, was in talks with BMW and would seek financial help from the British government.
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