Bayerische
Motoren Werke AG commonly known as BMW or BMW AG, is a German
automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916.
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 2012, the BMW Group produced
1,845,186 automobiles and 117,109 motorcycles across
all of 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.
BMW was
established as a business entity following a restructuring of the Rapp
Motorenwerke aircraft manufacturing firm in 1917. After the end ofWorld War I in
1918, BMW was forced to cease aircraft-engine production by the terms of the Versailles Armistice Treaty. The company
consequently shifted to motorcycle production in 1923, once the restrictions of
the treaty started to be lifted, followed by automobiles in 1928–29.
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. 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. 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.
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. 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 (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. 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. 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.”
In 2006, the BMW
group (including Mini and Rolls-Royce) produced 1,366,838 four-wheeled
vehicles, which were manufactured in five countries. In 2010, it
manufactured 1,481,253 four-wheeled vehicles and 112,271 motorcycles (under
both the BMW and Husqvarna brands).
The BMW X3 (E83)
was made by Magna Steyr, a subsidiary of Magna of Canada, in Graz, Austria
under license from BMW until 2010. More than 45,973 were produced in 2009.
Starting October 2010, the new BMW X3 (F25) is produced at BMW US Manufacturing
Co., Greer, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, USA
It is reported
that about 56% of BMW-brand vehicles produced are powered by petrol engines and
the remaining 44% are powered by diesel engines. Of those petrol vehicles,
about 27% are four-cylinder models and about nine percent are eight-cylinder
models.BMW
also has local assembly operation using complete knock down
components in Thailand, Russia, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, and
India, for 3, 5, 7 series and X3.
Worldwide sales Vehicles sold in all markets according to
BMW's annual reports.
|
Year
|
BMW
|
MINI
|
Rolls-Royce
|
Motorcycle*
|
|
2005
|
1,126,768
|
200,428
|
796
|
97,474
|
|
2006
|
1,185,088
|
188,077
|
805
|
100,064
|
|
2007
|
1,276,793
|
222,875
|
1,010
|
102,467
|
|
2008
|
1,202,239
|
232,425
|
1,212
|
115,196
|
|
2009
|
1,068,770
|
216,538
|
1,002
|
100,358
|
|
2010
|
1,224,280
|
234,175
|
2,711
|
110,113
|
|
2011
|
1,380,384
|
285,060
|
3,538
|
113,572
|
|
2012
|
1,540,085
|
301,525
|
3,575
|
117,109
|
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