BMW Reaches Broader Market Through London 2012

(ATR) BMW U.K. marketing director Richard Hudson tells Around the Rings the luxury carmaker will use the 2012 Olympics to introduce a more dynamic side of its business.

"We need a broader group of people to appreciate BMW for a broader range of attributes than just the high performance cars," he tells ATR.

"It could be the design; it could be the efficiency; it could be the innovations … It’s about positively influencing people's opinion. We just want to do that amongst a broader group of people."

BMW will provide all of the vehicles for the London Olympics. An important factor in preparations for the Games has been sustainability or improving the environment and communities in the U.K.

Hudson says BMW is an ideal partner with its efficient dynamics program, which aims to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

"We want to make the ultimate driving machine," he says, "but we want to do it with minimal energy."

For seven straight years, BMW has also been named the automotive industry’s leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, which evaluates the economic, environmental and social performance of companies.

The German car manufacturer is using the Games to promote this platform.

"Nobody is in a business signed up to support a sport without looking to engage in new customers," Hudson says.

"We want to reinforce the positive perception of BMW and Mini in the U.K., particularly around this program of efficient dynamics."

BMW’s 2012 fleet will include a wide range of vehicles from bicycles to motorcycles to electrically-powered vehicles.

In the next few months, the company will release information on an electrically-assisted bicycle for the Games. Hudson says this technology is part of BMW’s efforts to reach a broader audience as well as its plans tooffer more mobility options.

"It’s all part of our strategy in the whole area of future mobility," he tells ATR.

"When you look at megacities such as Beijing and New York and Shanghai, you've got these cities where companies in the future need to come up with broader mobility offerings."

Hudson pictures a world in which people can drive a car for the majority of a route, park the vehicle and then pull out an electrically-assisted bicycle to travel the rest of the way.

"This kind of end-to-end personal mobility is something that BMW is working on in many areas," he says, "and the idea of combining bikes and traditional combustion engine cars and electric cars is part of that strategy."

Written by Ann Cantrell.

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