German Car Zone

BMW loses ‘M’ battle with Nissan

BMW has lost a court battle in Canada to prevent Nissan from using the letter ‘M’ for what BMW describes as its rival’s “inferior and more modestly priced” models. The latest announcement comes several months after BMW originally won an injunction to stop Nissan from using the letter. The original injunction was later overturned on appeal.
Part of BMW’s problem is the difficulty in proving that there was a trademark infringement but that won’t stop it from appealing the latest decision, reports the Financial Post. Officials from Munich didn’t object to Nissan using the letter for the Infiniti “M35″ and “M45″ but when the Japanese carmaker ran an advertisement in Canada, which stated “the M is coming,” they decided to take action.
BMW’s only option now is to either petition the Supreme Court to listen to its case or reach an agreement with Nissan.

Lol...Now that is SOME nerve. The M45 is no where a inferior product. It is a reasonable product with an excellent value.

After driving the M45 sport I would take it over a M3 anyday. Maybe not an M5.

Now on the other hand Infiniti did try the "Q" issue against Audi. So I guess you can call it Karma.

Wow, youd take an M45 over an M3?? .. the new one?
I wouldn`t even bother comparing the two..

Yes, your right they in completely different segments. The issue is if I had the money to purchase either of these vehicles I would pick the Infiniti in a heart beat.

See I like German vehicles, but I am not blinded by them. I drove the new 3 series and it was nice, but I would never buy one. To me it's not "all that" as everyone claims it is. It's a toy I like the big boy vehicles. Why would I buy a 3 series or a C-class. I might as well get me a Corolla for the amount of room I'm getting. Not trying to insult Benz or BMW, but small luxury cars mean nothing to me. Maybe everyone else feels different, but thats them. The M45 sport I drove was an excellent vehicle and I can see me owning it for the next few years.

The 3 series has absolutly nothing I want. For them to say Infiniti M was an inferior product was an insult. To me BMW acts like there better then everyone else and that is what keeps me from buying their cars.

if they compared infinti M45 to the new M3 V8 I understand them. M3 is a sportcar, in the same league as C63, RS4 911 etc. Infiniti doesnt have a performance car with more than 400hp. M45 is just a normal car and not as special compared to the ones mentioned earlier.

Oh yes, I understand they can't be compared. On the other hand because it's an M with a lot of horsepower doesn't justify the inferior comment. Thats all I am saying.

More horsepower doesn't justify superiority. It simply the word they used is what bothered me.


M5 yes, but M3 no.

but thats not a surprise since you have admit you are soft for large cars

Exactly!