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. 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.
The
circular blue and white BMW logo or roundel evolved from the circular Rapp
Motorenwerke company logo, from which the BMW company grew, combined with the
blue and white colors of the flag of Bavaria.
The logo has been portrayed as the movement of an aircraft propeller with the
white blades cutting through a blue sky—first used in a BMW advertisement in
1929, twelve years after the roundel was created—but this is not the origin of
the logo itself.
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 jet fighter program until successful testing with Junkers engines.
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.”
