BMW history
Karl Friedrich Rapp is the name of the founder of BMW, one of the largest automobile manufacturing companies in the world. BMW or Bayerische Motoren Werke (Bavarian Motor Works) was founded in 1916 as a successor to Rapp Motor.
Many people think that the BMW logo comes from a spinning white propeller seen against the background of the blue sky. This may be so, but in fact it is known to also come from the blue and white flag of Bavaria, the largest state in Germany. The capital city of the state is Munich and this is the place where even today we can find the headquarters of BMW.
In 1916 with the founding of the company a contract for the construction of V12 engines was obtained. These engines were about to be used in the creation of Austro-Daimler automobiles. These V-12-cylinder engines were initially used in airplanes, which is the original plan of the BMW company. Considering the time when the company was founded, it was highly likely that they would stay that way.
However, in 1919, after World War I and the Treaty of Versailles, aircraft production in Germany was banned and that quickly changed BMW’s policy. They began by manufacturing brakes for rail transport. Soon after, BMW was able to design a motorcycle engine which was used for the creation of a motorcycle named Victoria. However, Victoria was not built by BMW but by another company in Nuremberg.
In 1924, BMW made a motorcycle model that was the first one they built: the R32. This was a turning point in the history of BMW because it was a great achievement and for decades they used their technology: air-cooled 500cc engines. Soon after, BMW added a new innovation: the driveshaft. It came to replace the rear wheel drive chain and became a BMW brand for quite some time.
In the German city of Eisenach in 1927 the production of Dixi began – under license but only a year after that the Dixi company was bought by BMW and they began mass production together with the Austin Seven model.
When World War I began, BMW took its place due to the motorized division of the German army. They used BMW R75 along with BMW R12. Due to the great need for engines, BMW noted that period as highly profitable. BMW was the main supplier and even today words like Luftwaffe and Wehrmacht bring back many memories. Some of the best aircraft of that historical period used BMW aero engines and up to 1945 more than 30,000 aircraft were built with these engines.
BMW even did research that allowed the company to make different jet engines for weapons. With the use of some men who mainly consisted of prisoners of war, BMW made many rocket-based weapons that were used in the war.
Shortly after the creation of the rocket-based weapons, parts of the company were bombed. The Soviets razed most of the company located in eastern Germany and the base factory in Munich was almost completely destroyed.
After the war, BMW was unable to recover quickly due to the need to rebuild the factory in Munich. After that, when the Allied restrictions came into effect, BMW was banned for three long years in which the company was prohibited from producing motorcycles until 1948 and automobiles until 1952.
In 1951 the Bavarian company was able to recover all the registered trademarks and it seemed that it could finally recover and start anew from what was left. In 1959, Herbert Quandt became the “wheel” that turned BMW around because he refused a deal with Daimler-Benz and soon after increased his stake in the BMW Company to 50%.
Kurt Golda’s name is mentioned as the man who prompted Quandt to take this step and in the same year BMW began production of the BMW 700, which was based on the BMW 600. This small car used air-cooled 2-cylinder engines. and some years later it was renamed “LS”. Coupes and some series convertibles were also made.
In 1963 BMW offered dividends to the company’s shareholders and in 1966 the Munich factory reached full capacity and BMW bought Hans Glas GmbH. This agreement allowed BMW to use factories in Landshut and Dingolfing.
With a new style provided by Bertone in 1972, BMW started the production of 5 new series and in the following years the company made great progress in the market. For 6 years, under the leadership of Bernd Pischetsrieder, BMW was able to expand its business in the market by purchasing the Rover Group from British Aerospace. The history of Rover Group begins in 1986 and up to the time it was acquired by BMW, this company was able to achieve many things, such as the Rover 400 in 1990.
However, the Rover was sold to Phoenix Venture Holdings and Ford Motor Company due to a few years of loss for BMW. The press jokingly called the Rover “The English Patient” after the release of the eponymous film. However, this was not very hard on BMW and they were saved from taking the blame. It seems that even the British press was not very enthusiastic about the Rover.
BMW began production outside of Germany in 1994. New factories were built in South Carolina and even today the manufacture of the BMW X5 and BMW Z4 takes place there. There are also factories in other places like Oxford, Goodwood and others. After some assembly time, BMW began production in South Africa. BMW currently exports more than 50,000 3 Series vehicles a year to Japan, the US, Africa, Australia and the Middle East.
To serve the Eastern European and Middle Eastern market, BMW plans to start construction of a new plant located in Cyprus or Greece. A plant in Chennai, India, already opened production in 2007.