Bayerische Motoren Werke
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (
pronunciation (help·info); English: Bavarian Motor Works), commonly known as BMW, is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1917. BMW is headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It also owns and produces Mini cars, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad. In 2010, the BMW group produced 1,481,253 automobiles and 112,271 motorcycles across all its brands. BMW is part of the "German Big 3" luxury automakers, along with Audi and Mercedes-Benz, which are the three best selling luxury automakers in the world.[4][5]
pronunciation (help·info); English: Bavarian Motor Works), commonly known as BMW, is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1917. BMW is headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It also owns and produces Mini cars, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad. In 2010, the BMW group produced 1,481,253 automobiles and 112,271 motorcycles across all its brands. BMW is part of the "German Big 3" luxury automakers, along with Audi and Mercedes-Benz, which are the three best selling luxury automakers in the world.[4][5]
Main article: History of BMW
BMW was established as a business entity following a restructuring of the Rapp Motorenwerke aircraft manufacturing firm in 1917. After the end of World War I in 1918, BMW was forced to cease aircraft engine production by the terms of the Versailles Armistice Treaty.[6] The company consequently shifted to motorcycle production in 1923, once the restrictions of the treaty started to be lifted,[7] followed by automobiles in 1928–29.[8][9][10]
The first car which BMW successfully produced and the car which launched BMW on the road to automobile production was the Dixi, it was based on the Austin 7 and licensed from the Austin Motor Company in Birmingham, England.
BMW's first significant aircraft engine was the BMW IIIa inline-six
liquid-cooled engine of 1918, much preferred for its high-altitude
performance.[11] With German rearmament in the 1930s, the company again began producing aircraft engines for the Luftwaffe. Among its successful World War II engine designs were the BMW 132 and BMW 801 air-cooled radial engines, and the pioneering BMW 003 axial-flow turbojet, which powered the tiny, 1944–1945–era jet-powered "emergency fighter", the Heinkel He 162 Spatz. The BMW 003 jet engine was tested in the A-1b version of the world's first jet fighter, the Messerschmitt Me 262, but BMW engines failed on takeoff, a major setback for the Emergency Fighter Program until successful testing with Junkers engines.[12][13] Towards the end of the Third Reich BMW developed some military aircraft projects for the Luftwaffe, the BMW Strahlbomber, the BMW Schnellbomber and the BMW Strahljäger, but none of them were built.[14][15]
By the year 1959, the automotive division of BMW was in financial
difficulties and a shareholders meeting was held to decide whether to go
into liquidation or find a way of carrying on. It was decided to carry
on and to try to cash in on the current economy car boom enjoyed so
successfully by some of Germany's ex-aircraft manufacturers such as Messerschmitt and Heinkel. The rights to manufacture the Italian Iso Isetta
were bought; the tiny cars themselves were to be powered by a modified
form of BMW's own motorcycle engine. This was moderately successful and
helped the company get back on its feet. The controlling majority
shareholder of the BMW Aktiengesellschaft since 1959 is the Quandt family, which owns about 46% of the stock. The rest is in public float.
BMW acquired the Hans Glas company based in Dingolfing,
Germany, in 1966. It was reputed that the acquisition was mainly to
gain access to Glas' development of the timing belt with an overhead
camshaft in automotive applications.[16] Glas vehicles were briefly badged as BMW until the company was fully absorbed.
In 1992, BMW acquired a large stake in California based industrial design studio DesignworksUSA, which they fully acquired in 1995. In 1994, BMW bought the British Rover Group[17] (which at the time consisted of the Rover, Land Rover and MG brands as well as the rights to defunct brands including Austin and Morris),
and owned it for six years. By 2000, Rover was incurring huge losses
and BMW decided to sell the combine. The MG and Rover brands were sold
to the Phoenix Consortium to form MG Rover, while Land Rover was taken over by Ford. BMW, meanwhile, retained the rights to build the new Mini, which was launched in 2001.
Chief designer Chris Bangle announced his departure from BMW in February 2009, after serving on the design team for nearly seventeen years.[18] He was replaced by Adrian van Hooydonk,
Bangle's former right hand man. Bangle was known for his radical
designs such as the 2002 7-Series and the 2002 Z4. In July 2007, the
production rights for Husqvarna Motorcycles was purchased by BMW for a reported 93 million euros. BMW Motorrad
plans to continue operating Husqvarna Motorcycles as a separate
enterprise. All development, sales and production activities, as well as
the current workforce, have remained in place at its present location
at Varese.
In June 2012, BMW was listed as the #1 most reputable company in the world by Forbes.com.[19]
Rankings are based upon aspects such as “people’s willingness to buy,
recommend, work for, and invest in a company is driven 60% by their
perceptions of the company and only 40% by their perceptions of their
products.”
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