B&W Name Change Theory

noooo. I think it is because folks are tired of initials.
Just like every car is now a couple of letter/number nameless things.
Full names sound so much more real.
20 years ago saying you bought a KZ444 markII sounded cool. Now it means nothing.
Bower & Wilkins sounds so majestic!

If Bose is in every car and they're the richest audio company around, it stands to reason that they're the best, right? I don't understand why this is so hard for you to understand Albert :-)

The best part about Bose car stereos is that they use non-standard electrical interfaces, so if you want to swap them out, it's a LOT more work / expense.

As for B&W, I have no idea if car audio has anything to do with their name change. As a devoted BMW-driver, I can attest that nobody who has ever heard a BMW car stereo would not want a BMW stereo in their car because they're terrible, even if there was no brand-clash. Even their "upgraded" Harmon Kardon system is lame - terrible in the 3 series, passable in the 5 series.

Buying a car because it has a great stereo may be a little silly, but passing on one brand of car to buy another one of equal quality that has a better stereo is intelligent, in my opinion.

Mark Levinson never made car stereos. He sold the company to Harman International who took one of their Harmon Kardon designs and put a Mark Levinson label on it.

Ignoring the fact that HK does make decent car stereos; if you bought a Lexus because it had a Mark Levinson system in it; then you have fallen for the same market hype that Joe Consumer falls for when he buys a car because of the Bose system.

It's not a name change. They have always been Bowers and Wilkins; they just choose to stop using their initials. I do agree that B&W sound too similar to BMW so I always say "B&W speakers" to avoid confusion. I also think Bowers and Wilkins sounds more elegant.