• hile wanting to defend family share holding BMW unceremoniously disposed Rover UK which may have affected their credibility.
• Poor profitability at BMW and a strong sterling pound contributed to BMW Rover UK failed merger
• BMW’s management indecisiveness during the Rover UK merger crisis
• Rover UK’s high break even point which affected the profitability of this venture.

Similarly a number of threats are clearly evident from this case study some of which include:

• Quality level attained by automobile manufacturers among them BMW meant that product differentiation opportunities became fewer while the cost structure and the degree of rivalry made price competition a strategic factor.
• Increased automobile production resulted in oversupply and a mismatch between demand and capacity increased the price competition.
• Environmental concerns and increasing petrol prices generated demand for smaller automobiles.
• Demand for cost reduction and pressure on regulatory compliance brought in trends of standardization of automobile across regions which threatened BMW’s brand management campaign.
• The desire of governments to minimize disruptions caused by mergers and acquisitions further reduced the likely hood of any successful mergers.

The most obvious opportunity was the increase in consumer demand for newer products, greater choice and value for their money opened a door for diversity.

SWOT analysis strategy developed will be effective only after the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats have been identified as what has been done above. The categorization of strategies may follow a number of combinations of these factors. According to the BMW case study we can identify a strength and opportunity strategy, a weakness and opportunity strategy and strength and threat strategy.

Strength and Opportunity strategy