Word: premium
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...premium-spirits industry, rum is the new Cognac. A drink whose reputation is usually linked with British sailors and Caribbean pirates--Blackbeard liked to mix his rum with gunpowder and light it before swilling--has suddenly risen above Captain Morgan to compete with Napoléon. U.S. sales of high-end rums shot up 45% over the past three years, to $287 million, according to the Distilled Spirits Council in Washington. Gourmet restaurants are taking notice. Labels like Santa Teresa's 1796--a top Hamilton pick for its "honey smooth" finish--from Venezuela are after-dinner favorites at Cacao in Miami...
...since it ditched Rover in 2000. Production has increased steadily, and profits are buoyant. Pretax earnings last year rose 25%, to $5.5 billion, despite the soaring cost of raw materials and the strong euro. It has easily outpaced its historic rival, Mercedes (part of DaimlerChrysler), to become the leading premium-car brand. BMW is pushing a worldwide expansion. This spring it opened an assembly plant in India, and the company is building out a plant in Spartanburg, S.C., as part of its strategy to be less vulnerable to foreign-exchange fluctuations...
...Toyota in some respects, including the number of cars produced per worker per day. But there's a trade-off. "BMW is not prepared to sacrifice its ability to give consumers the car they want. The alternative would be reduced costs but not the ability to charge a premium for customized cars," says Garel Rhys, an auto-industry expert at Cardiff University. In the end, he says, BMW's marginal revenue from customization is higher than the marginal cost advantage it gives...
...growth challenges or given it much protection from the increasingly competitive luxury segment. Helmut Becker, an auto consultant and formerly BMW's chief economist, says the idea behind the failed Rover deal--to turn the firm into a two-brand company, one for the mass market and one a premium brand--was a smart one, since it would have enabled BMW to spread the huge cost of new-car development over a far bigger group. "BMW's main weakness is that life is getting ever narrower in the premium segment, and it needs volume growth. I'm not sure where...
...Wyden would eliminate the current employer-based system. Employers would "cash out" the money they currently pay for health benefits and distribute it as wages; individuals would then pay for their own health insurance-an annual premium to the Federal government, as part of their income taxes. They would choose their own private plans from a system very much like the one currently offered federal employees. But there would be two mandates: one for individuals and one for insurance companies. The individual mandate would require everyone to participate, especially those who can afford health insurance and choose...