BMW Company

BMW is also called Bayerische Motoren Werke. It is a German-based company, and its headquarter is in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. This company makes luxurious cars for the world, and it came into existence in 1916 started with manufacturing aircraft. They produced aircraft engines from 1917-1918 and resumed from 1933-1945.

It is a publicly listed company, part of the automotive industry. The founder of the company was

• Eisenach
• Fahrzeugwerke
• Fahrzeugfabrik
• Bayerische
• Rapp Motorenwerke

They run their operations on a global scale. People who manage the company are:

• Oliver Zipse (Chairman of the Board of Management)
• Norbert Reithofer ( Chairman of the Supervisory Board)

BMW produces two kinds of products:

• Cars
• Motorcycles

They produced 2,255,637 cars in 2020 and 168,104 motorcycles. Their brand, which is famous in the world, are:

Cars category

• Rolls Royce
• Mini
• BMW i
• BMW
• Alpina

Motorcycles

• BMW Motorrad

Company's Balance Sheet

The Company ownership is divided into three people according to their shares:

• Susanne Klatten (21%)
• Stefan Quandt (29%)
• Public Float (50%)

Quandt's family has held the share for a very long time, and in 1959 Herbert and Harald Quandt's investments protected the company from getting bankrupt. The rest of the shares are with Public float.

The company's total strength is 133,778 (133,778). To know the latest updates regarding their company and its products, you can visit bmw.com and bmwgroup.com.

There are production units are available in the following countries, and they include;

• The United States of America
• The United Kingdom
• South Africa
• The Netherlands
• Mexico
• India
• China
• Brazil

The company has also specialized in the manufacturing of motorsport like Isle of Man TT, Formula 1, touring cars, and sports cars.

BMW comes at number 14 position in terms of producing the largest number of motor vehicles.

History

• Gustav Otto established Otto Flugmaschinenfabrik in Bavaria in 1910. After 6 years, the company was regrouped and reorganised by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG on 7 March 1916. Later, the frim was renamed Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW). The first product that BMW manufactured was a Straight -Six aircraft engine and is known as BMW IIIA, and it was the brainchild of Max Friz, an engineer by profession. After World War ended, BMW remained survived and was kept manufacturing farm equipment, motorcycles engines, railway brakes, and household items. BMW had launched its first motorcycle in 1923, called BMW R32. Later, they shifted to manufacturing cars in 1928 when it acquired Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach; in that period, it developed Austin Sevens under license under Dixi Marque.
• BMW sold its first car called BMW 3/15, and it acquired an automobile company called Automobilewerk Eisenach, and in 1930, BMW diversified its products from luxurious cars to sports cars. Their main products till World WarII were automobiles, aircraft engines, and motorcycles. At the time War, BMW manufactured aircraft engines, and they used slave laborers for production; this was against the choice of the director Franz Joseph Popp. Slave laborers were from people from concentration camps, the majority from Dachau.
• BMW manufacturing locations were constantly bombarded at the time of war, and facilities that were present outside Germany were banned. Their products like motor vehicles, automobiles, and aircraft equipment were also banned after the war. But still, the company was alive by manufacturing pots, bicycles, and pans. BMW Company in 1948 resumed with the production of motorcycles and automobiles in Bavaria in 1952. They also introduced BMW 501 luxury saloon in that same period.
• They produced different kinds of cars in 1955, like manufacturing of cheaper Isetta microcar under license. The company was facing financial trouble in 1959 as the sales of the microcars were kept falling, and profit margins were insignificant. A point came that it could have been overtaken by its rival company called Daimler- Benz.
• Funding from the Investors like Herbert Quandt and Harald Quandt kept the company alive. Quandt's father was Gunther, a famous industrialist in Germany. Later Quandt took membership in Nazi Party. BMW 700 was a grand success for them, and it helped them in recovery.

New models which were introduced from 1960 to 1980 were:

• BMW New Class Compact Sedans(1962)
• BMW 5 Series Mid Size Sedan Range(1972)
• BMW 3 Series Compact Sedan (1975)
• BMW 6 Series Luxury coupes (1976)
• BMW 7 Series Large Luxury Sedans( 1978)

BMW M division introduced a mid-engine supercar to the market in 1978. Later they introduced:

• BMW M5 (1984)
• BMW M3 (1986)
• V12 engine 750i luxury sedan

BMW acquired the Rover Group in 1994, but this acquisition did not yield expected results, and it was leading to heavy financial losses to the company.

BMW most of the stakes of Rover sold off and retained mini brands only. This automobile giant purchased stakes from Rolls Royce from Vickers Plc. They entered the SUV market with BMW X5.

BMW started manufacturing turbocharged petrol engines, and they launched in 2006. They are slowly moving towards electric cars.

Branding of the Company

Bayerische Motorenwerke in English is called Bavarian Motor Works. Bayerische Motoren Werke is incorrect according to German grammar because, according to their grammar, compound words should not have any space between them. The grammatically correct word is Bayerische Motorenwerke.

BMW Logo

• From 1913 to 1917, BMW used the Rapp Logo. It signified the company as an aircraft engine maker, and a silhouette horse was featured in the center of the circular frame. Eight curved lines in white colors, brand name, and two stars contained in a thick black frame.
• The company introduced its original Logo in 1917, and they used it till 1933; the Logo had beautiful colors. It had four quadrants, and it looked like an aircraft or propeller. The quadrant had two white colors and two blue colors that were inscribed in the middle of a thick black frame. The frame consisted of two thin gold outlines and contained the letter BMW on its top.
  
• They updated their LOGO in 1933, and it was redesigned, but the colors that were present in the quadrant had not changed. The golden circular frames were thickened from the last ones. The letter BMW has become sleeker, sharper, and bolder.
• The second update happened in 1953, and there was no change till 1963. Now they preferred silver outlines and avoided thick golden circular frames that they used earlier. The edges of the BMW letter had become gray, and the white and blue colors were put on lighter shades. The black ring was more highlighted and but the whole emblem was not all looking interesting.
• The third update happened in 1963, and there was no change till 1997. Their LogoLogo was redesigned, and more color effects were put black, white, and blue. The wordmark BMW and circular frames were turned to white from black. The white and blue colors that were present in the center had been presented in the intense mode in this update. The Logo was much attractive, clean and it was presented a sense of loyalty and authority.
• The fourth update happened in 1997, and there was no change till 2020. This was a Logo that was updated, was much more powerful in approach, distinct, and modernized. This LOGO was simply a reflection of the technology era. It was presented in a 3D model, the emblem reflecting a white wordmark with the background being circular and with silver-gray outlines.

The LOGO of BMW is attractive, simple, memorable, unique, and versatile.

Financial Health of The Company

Motorcycle Production of the BMW

R23 was the first successful motorcycle of their company, and the manufacturing process began in 1921. This motorcycle contained a boxer twin engine. This engine has cylinder projects into the air flow from each side of the machine. Most of the motor vehicles which are produced are from the R-series.

They have manufactured all their motorcycle in Berlin - Spandau factory since 1969, and it is owned by the BMW group.

BMW has come with a wide range of motor vehicles in the past, and some of them have dominated the market:

• BMW R75 was introduced during World War 2, and it had a motor-driven sidecar attached and lockable differential. It makes the vehicle suitable for off the road.
• K Series of BMW motorcycle was launched in 1982. It has 3-4 cylinders that were kept straight from front to back. Later they came with the F and G series.

Automobile

The present models of BMW which are available now:

• 1 series
  • A four sedan variant ( model code F52)
  • Five-door hatchbacks ( Model code F40)
• 2 series
  • Gran Tourer Seven Seater Multi-Purpose Vehicle (F46)
  • Active Tourer Five Seat MPVs(F45)
  • Two-door Coupes (Model Code G42)
  • Four-door "Gran Coupe" fastback (model code F44)
• 3 series
  • Five Door station wagons (G21)
  • Four-Door Sedans( Model Code G20)
• 4 series
  • Five Door Gran Coupe Fastbacks( Model code G24)
  • Two Door Convertibles ( Model Code G23)
  • Two Door Coupes (Model Code G22)
• 5 series
  • Five Door Stations Wagons (G31)
  • Four-Door Sedans (Model Code G30)
  • Long- Wheelbase Sedan variant (G38)
• 6 series
  • 'Gran Turismo' five-door Coupes
• 7 series
  • Long Wheel-base four-door sedans ( Model code G12)
  • Four-Door Sedans (Model Code G11)
• 8 series
  • 'Gran Coupe' Four-Door Fastbacks
  • Two-Door Convertibles (G15)
  • Two Door Coupes ( Model Code G14)

The present that is available in X Series SUVs :

Z Series

• Z4 (Model Code G29) - Two door roadsters

i Models

The vehicles which come under this are plug-in hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles. BMW sold these kinds of the vehicle under the name of i-sub-brand. The available models which are present are:

• i3
  • Five-door B- segment ( supermini) hatchback
  • Features - an electric motor and also present Rex petrol engine

As the automobile industry is trying to be manufacture electric cars, BMW is planning to introduce many other models of the i Series in the market. According to the company:

• BMW i4 ( Four-Door Sedans) will be available in 2021
• BMW IX3 (SUV) will be introduced in 2020.

That cars which are plug-in hybrid have been branded as iPerformance models in the market by BMW. Some of the SUV plug-in hybrid models and crossover that they have introduced in the market are :

• X1xDrive25e
• X2 xDrive25e
• X3 xDrive30e
• X5 xDrive40e

BMW manufactures them using i technology.

The BMW M GmbH of one of the subsidiaries of BMW has produced classic vehicles since 1978

Motorsport Section of the BMW

BMW has been an old player in producing motorsport vehicles in the market, and they associated motorsport activities for a long, and that includes

• Formula E
  
• Formula Two
• Formula BMW- a junior racing Formula category
• IMSA SportsCar Championship
• American Le Mans Series
• Dakar Rally
• Isle of Man TT
• Endurance racing
  • Spa 24 Hours
  • 24 Hours of Daytona
  • 24 Hours of Le Mans
  • 24 Hours Nurburgring
• Formula One
• Touring Cars
  • BTCC
  • DTM
  • WTCC
  • ETCC

Art Cars

A sculptor called Alexander Calder was hired to paint BMW 3. O CSL. It was a racing car and was to be driven by Herve Poulain. This car was part of the 24 hours of the Le Mans Car race and was the first car in the BMW Art car Series. Many renowned artists from all around the country joined the BMW's Art Car Series, and artist includes:

• Andy Warhol
• Frank Stella
• Robert Rauschenberg
• Roy Lichtenstein
• Jenny Holzer
• David Hockney

Manufacturing Operations

BMW has a manufacturing plant in cities of the following countries:

• Araquari- Brazil
• Shenyang- China
• Chennai- India
• Rosslyn- South Africa
• San Luis Potos- Mexico
• Spartanburg- United States
• Graz- Austria
• Leipzig, Regensburg, Munich and Dingolfing-Germany

BMW also owns a small factory in the United Kingdom; Rolls Royce vehicles assembly at Goodwood, Oxford plants in Swindon and Hams Hall. But this factory has been closed since the covid-19 outbreak. Motorcycles are produced in Berlin's factory. Earlier it was used to manufacture aircraft engines.

Categorization of BMW based on fuel

• 56 % of BMW's vehicles run on Petrol Diesel
• 44% runs on Diesel engines
• In petrol vehicles
  • 27% contain four-cylinder
  • 9% contain 8 cylinder model

Sponsorship by BMW

BMW has tied up with United States Olympic Committee for a six-year sponsorship deal in July 2010. They have sponsored many events that include;

• Italian Open ( 2009 - 2012)
• PGA Championship ( 2007- present)
• BMW Masters in China ( 2012- 2015)
• BMW International Open in Munich (1989- present)
• South Africa National Rugby Union Team ( 2011- 2015)

Environmental Effort by BMW

• It is part of the U.S Environmental Protection Agency. This agency recognizes the efforts of the company to clean the environment.
• An active member of the South Carolina Environmental Excellence Program
• Dow Jones Sustainability Index always rank BMW as the Most Sustainable Automotive Company.
• BMW is actively involved and part of the United Nations Environmental Programme, the Cleaner Production Declaration, and the UN Global Impact.
• It became the first company that appointed an environmental officer for its company in 1973.
• It is also a member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.