[atdrummond]

BMW competes directly with Ford in Europe. Prior to the sale of PAG (Aston Martin, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover) BMW also competed with Ford-owned brands in the United States.

I'm also certain more people cross shop Fords and Bimmers than one might initially assume.

[dublinben]

Ford might be competition for BMW in Europe, but they certainly aren't in the US. The only Ford I could believe a BMW customer even considering is the Mustang. The base model 3-series coupe is significantly more expensive than all but the top three Mustangs available (GT Premium convertible, Shelby GT 500, GT 500 convertible). If one is in the market for a $40k coupe, they're not going to compare the BMW to the Ford, they'll compare the BMW to the Mercedes, Infinity, and Audi.

[hef19898]

No competition in europe as far as I know. BMW is more "low volume high margin" while Ford is "low margin high volume" (huge generalization here).

Some time I can't fight the feeling that german premium car makers are the Apples of the automotive world...