When BMW made a strong competetive push into the U.S. market in the
early 1980s, it positioned the brand as being the only automobile that offered
both luxury and performance. At that time, American luxury cars were
seen by many as lacking performance, and American performance cars
were seen as lacking luxury. By relying on the design of its cars, its German
heritage, and other aspects of a well-concieved marketing program, BMW
was able to simultaneously achieve:(1) a point-of-difference on luxury and
a point-of-parity on performance with respect to performance cars and
(2) a point-of-difference on performance and a point-of-parity on luxury
with respect to luxury cars. The clever slogan "The Ultimate Driving Machine"
effectively captured the newly created umbrella category-luxury performance
cars.