Best Brand 2026: Interview BMW

BMW won the Best Brand Award for the category "Best Automative"!

In a consumer-driven award, ‘brand love’ matters. What do you think people in Belgium emotionally buy into when they choose BMW beyond the car itself?

Since 1965—for over 60 years now—everything we do at BMW has been centered on Freude am Fahren, or Sheer Driving Pleasure. And that focus delivers results. Every brand study shows that BMW is unrivaled when it comes to the connection people make between our brand and the joy of driving. This is truly our domain.

This consistency isn't just a matter of history; you can feel it in every product we make—they are all designed to provide a sense of joy. That authenticity is vital, and for me, it is an absolute prerequisite for maintaining long-term credibility. We also see this reflected in the power of the test drive. Once you succeed in getting prospect behind the wheel of a BMW, the likelihood of a sale increases significantly.

Furthermore, this appeal spans generations. Even young people find themselves drawn to the "BMW feel." This is why we are so committed to defending individual mobility for the future. By integrating sustainability into every step of the value chain, we believe we can continue to offer driving pleasure in the years to come, without people having to feel guilty about it.

Which one rational proof point (quality, tech, resale value, service, safety, etc.) do you believe most strongly converts Belgian consumers from interest to purchase?

Much of BMW’s success is linked to our strong performance in the corporate market. The primary rational factor at play here is the exceptionally high resale value of a BMW. This ensures that a premium vehicle remains highly competitive when evaluating the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

Beyond the strong demand from "user-choosers" driven by a desire for driving pleasure, this financial stability is the main reason BMW is included in so many car policies—and why those cars are actually ordered.

It creates a perfect circle: the joy of driving generates high demand in the pre-owned market (resulting in high residual values), which in turn makes a new BMW affordable for lease drivers who are looking for that unique driving experience.

BMW has a strong performance DNA, while the market is shifting to electric and digital experiences. How do you protect the brand’s ‘driving pleasure’ promise in an era where driving is changing?

That is an excellent question, and one that BMW has also asked itself. The answer was powerful: the BMW Vision Driving Experience, or VDX for short. This is an extreme electric prototype, unveiled in 2025 and featured at this year’s Brussels Motor Show, that serves as the platform for the ‘Heart of Joy’ software used in the Neue Klasse, our new generation of electric BMWs. Equipped with four electric motors, the VDX delivers  of torque, showcasing the immense potential of sixth-generation BMW eDrive technology.

With this, BMW has removed all doubt: an electrically powered BMW drives like a true BMW. Once again, the driving pleasure offered here is entirely unique within the automotive sector. The popularity of the BMW iX3 proves that we are, yet again, bringing this vision to market with complete credibility.

If you had to name a single moment in the customer journey where BMW can ‘win or lose’ trust fastest (dealership, delivery, aftersales, charging experience, app…), what is it and what are you doing about it?

For me, that crucial moment occurs when a customer walks into the dealership. The experience there must be top-tier, which is no small feat to achieve. That is why we are currently rolling out Retail.Next,  acompletely new approach for our showrooms. This strategy puts the customer experience at the heart of everything we do, ensuring that the online and offline worlds transition seamlessly into one another.

The opinion of Francesco Cacamese, Strategic Director at Serviceplan Group Belux

BMW stands as the preferred automotive brand for drivers who value engineering excellence and dynamic performance. The brand has cultivated a reputation for precision handling and innovative technology that sets it apart in a competitive market. BMW's ability to balance luxury appeal with genuine performance credentials has created lasting loyalty among consumers who see the brand as an investment in both quality and driving experience. The brand's heritage in motorsport and continuous innovation in electric vehicles positions it as forward-looking while maintaining its core appeal.