My guess is that they would use it for a range of green city cars, hybrids, electrics etc as such a concept wouldn't be a good "fit" for either the BMW or Mini brand. Maybe the car could be the product of the rumoured colabloration with Mercedes over a small car.

Jalopniks demand the return of Glas!

I think they also still own the rights to one of the best car company names, EVER....Goggomobil!

@TinaChow: OMG, you're so right but I'm sure Goggle would have something to say if they tried to use it

Actually, I think a green city car is not outside the brand image of Mini - it gets decent mileage for being so sporting - but it is slipping into the past rapidly. BMW could steer it back to that if they wanted.

Isetta, hmm. Funny looking, really tall, very short, down on cylinder count. Is this a smart car to build? Daimler evidently thinks so.

If BMW came out with a new iteration of the Isetta - perhaps without the deathtrap front-end door (that's the only reason all Isettas were ragtops: to provide an exit in a front-ender) - I'd be sorely tempted. Smart Cars have been tooling all over my little city for the last couple of days in a promo event, and they're cute as bugs. I do heart me some itty tiny kei cars.

wait,
isn't Mini already getting ready to launch (in a few years) a smaller Mini (Mini-mini or is that Mini-nano) that is to be slotted below the euro-only Mini 1?

Na, BMW is going after the Bugatti Veyron. :)

I guess I'll be the one to ask:

BMW
MINI

What's the 3rd brand again?

@ELHIGH - All Isettas are ragtops? I swear I've seen plenty that weren't. (Seen them in the wild in Vienna, Austin and Berkeley.)

Can someone remind be of the third brand (I assumed the article would do that). I can only think of BMW and Mini off the top of my head.

@Bumblebee:
ROLLS ROYCE.....

@d4005: ROLLS ROYCE....

@rognbrow: What's Goggle?

@3wheeler: Right, thanks. They just aren't worth remembering.

BMW has three premium brands, relative to the segments in which the respective product compete. It does not need a fourth premium brand right now.

What it does need is a volume strategy to bring down cost and, to meet the looming CO2 emissions regs in case the EU Commission decides to apply them to each manufacturer separately after all. According to the German trade publication Automobilwoche, BMW wants to ship 1.8 million vehicles by 2012 and increase margins. They aren't really crazy about handing Peugeot their engine technology differentiation on a silver platter if all they get out of it is one product - the Mini.

If BMW do decide to go for a fourth brand, I hope they buy Loremo GmbH instead of resurrecting some long-dead marque with a supposedly glorious history. The BMW corporate identity is precision engineering, performance and efficiency - wallowing in nostalgia is more of a VW AG thing.

FWIW, I think a fourth brand is a bad idea. Instead, BMW AG should spend a little more time on how they can expand the reach of the Mini brand downward. At some point, even that iconic design is going to look stale and then what? They boxed themselves into a corner by equating the name of the product with that of the brand, so they should address that future liability before diverting management attention to a new and shiny bauble.

I think the Chinese got most of the old Brit brands (MG, Morris, Wolseley and Austin), but BMW still owns Riley, Triumph and possibly Rover as a car badge [en.wikipedia.org] . They might also own something called Rapp Motorenwerke [en.wikipedia.org] .

I think a fourth brand is stupid, they already have entry, middle and high-end brands; are they getting jealous of GM's huge multi-brand success?

i thought Mini's had engine shutoff and regenerative brakes in europe. That's pretty green, i don't know if a new brand would need to go that way. I vote for Triumph, that would be cooler.

@no_slushbox: ford bought the rover badge to protect the Land Rover brand...they bought it off BMW this year for £7m

Oh dear lord Jeee-Zuss on a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich, please let it be Jaguar! -Ayy,Men!

There's been talk of a mini roadster with a triumph badge for years.

I'm guessing Triumph, assembled at the Spartenburg plant(take advantage of cheap dollars), and sold through MINI dealers.

The range could be two-seaters, instead of four, and aim at sporty-efficiency?

[motoringfile.com]

BMW should make one extra brand called Bangle, so it will be possible again to buy a BMW.

@sos10: Amen!

I'm all for BMW resurrecting Isetta (even beyond the logic of a Smart competitor). More importantly, upon bringing back the Isetta, BMW would need to find a way to fit the M5's V10 in there,

@Seth L: The idea of an FWD Triumph is anathema. They should do a latter day Mini Marcos.

@no_slushbox: I disagree. BMW has entry premium (Mini), high (BMW), and hedge fund/old money (Rolls). BMW's brand equity is such that they could launch a new brand, but they only get once chance. After the Rover debacle I think they should craft a wholly new brand, akin to what Toyota did with Scion.

New Mini designs like the Clubman are cool, but you can never fully leave the design language...which makes Mini a little questionable over the long-term. BMW definitely needs new avenues if it wants to grow, although I find it hard to believe BMW doesn't already have enviable margins on its products.

@SOS10 - Amen to that brother! Don't forget the negative influence on BMW desirability of the iDrive too.

@jaylake: As I recall they all were. There were a couple of similar vehicles - the Goggomobil comes to mind - that may not have worn this feature. I'll check my facts to confirm or debunk myself.

They should have a brand just for their SUVs, that way the SUVs can be more hardcore off-roaders and they can keep the BMW brand focused on driver's cars just like it used to be. You know what would be nice? Land Rover... oh wait.

@Seth L:

My German friends tell me that Spitfires are unfathomably popular in Germany.

Is it a huge cognitive leap to conceive of a 21st century Triumph Spitfire, by BMW?

I'm convinced.

@no_slushbox:

They have Riley?

So, if they really wanted, they could recreate the Riley Elf.

For the uninitiated, a Mini with a boot, and too cute for words: [www.motorbase.com]