BMW: History, Current Development and Future Prospects
Introduction
Over the past 100 years, BMW has become the maker of some of the world's most desirable luxury vehicles from a failing aircraft engine business. The business has seen some of the darkest times of European history but has emerged as a solid, secure symbol of German design and engineering performance. The business Rapp-Motorenwerke was founded by Karl Friedrich Rapp in October 1913. During this time conflicts were rising rapidly around Europe, it was only a matter of time before the outbreak of the First World War. As a result, Rapp marketed aircraft engines at the time to meet the high demand. For several years before 1916, Rapp-Motorwerke was able to barely hang onto the business. Karl Rapp had almost been forced to surrender to the financial burdens which pulled down his organization during that stressful era. Luckily, the Prussian army ordered 600 aircraft engines from Rapp-Motorwerke, giving Rapp a chance to save his company. Finally, he formed a collaboration with company owner Fran-Josef Popp and his funding associate Camillo Castiglioni, which gave rise to the Bayerische Flugzeug-Werke (BFW). Not long after BFW became BMW. Throughout the 20th century, BMW has seen both tough times and good periods. Nevertheless, it is the chaotic start of the company coupled with its endless quest for self-improvement that took it into the 21st century as one of the world's top automotive luxury brands.
History
BMW was the product of three production companies which in 1917 became Bayerische Motorenwerke. Until 1918, Rapp Motorenwerke and Bayerische Flugzeugwerke were separate firms until they merged into a new limited public company. In 1918, when it absorbed the struggling Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW), Rapp Motorenwerke was restructured and assumed the name BMW. The business Rapp-Motorenwerke was founded by Karl Friedrich Rapp in October 1913. The first BMW which was created in 1917, logo includes the colors blue and white that are the colors of the Bavarian state. Over the years, the logo has been reimagined several times, but it still retained its basic shape – including the colors blue and white. BMW entered the automobile market in 1923. They revealed that they would name the R32 their first motorcycle. This was a big step for the company because it had made just motors and not entire vehicles before. BMW started working on their first vehicle in 1928 after buying Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach, Germany's third-largest automobile producer. BMW's first vehicle was a model copied from the Austin Motor Company. BMW did not use its own models until 1932 and designed its first vehicle. The company proceeded to produce war materials for the German army during World War II. In 1940, BMW began to employ foreign workers to meet the production demands of the German military. Since the beginning of the war, BMW was able to produce its first vehicle in 1951. The vehicle is renamed the 501. The 501 was a wide saloon car that could easily accommodate up to six passengers. The BMW 501 lived a short existence and was pulled from the production lines in 1958. For BMW, the year 1972 was a big year. The firm also launched its subsidiary of BMW Motorsport. BMW Motorsport brought much recognition and fame to the quality and power of their vehicles in the manufacturing process. BMW Motorsport's success also influenced the new directions for the company. BMW's made it to America in 1994. The decision to build was taken in the United States in 1989, but until the early 90s the building was not available for customers. When BMW built only one but three new production plants, the push towards a full global presence proceeded into the 2000s. In 2003, the Rolls-Royce factory was opened in Goodwood, followed by a brand new facility in Shenyang, China. BMW looks to the automotive industry's future with a focus on growth, future, profitability and technology. BMW's leadership looks ahead to the year 2020 after enjoying over a century of success. By 2020, BMW aims to be the world's leading manufacturer of luxury automobiles.
Locations
The headquarters of the BMW have been located on Lerchenauer Strasse since 1922. The site designed aircraft engines at the start, followed by automobiles and eventually cars and motors. The BMW Group Plant Munich lists among Europe's most up-to-date production plants. On June 23, 1992, BMW Group announced that it would build its first full production plant outside Germany in South Carolina. This is the only assembly plant in the U. S. at BMW. Nearly two decades later, the BMW Group has spent more than 10. 6 trillion, and five large projects have gone through the factory. Their official is www. bmw. com.
Ownership
It was created in 1916 by Franz Josef Popp. Twenty nine percent of the company is owned by Stefan Quandt, who is a German Engineer. Twenty one percent is owned by Susanne Klatten, who is an investor and is the sister of Stefan Quandt. And the other fifty percent is owned by the public. The stocks have dropped the most since September, after the German luxury carmaker announced Wednesday that this year pre-tax income is expected to fall by more than 10%. Their current stock price is $27. 2.
Acquisitions
BMW purchased the British Rover Corporation in 1994. The Rover Group is best known for its luxury cars such as the Mini, Mg and Land Rover. BMW originally had big plans for the Rover Company, but in 2000 they finally sold the group for their own reasons, retaining the Mini brand. There was no limit to BMW's desire to purchase many automobile manufacturers. BMW purchased the Rolls-Royce company in 1998. BMW was able to acquire both the Rolls-Royce vehicle naming rights and the business stake. BMW bought Han’s Glas 1966, primarily to gain access to Glas's innovations, they were the first to use a timing belt with an overhead camshaft in automotive applications, with its small range of models being phased out by its new parent in the near future. Also BMW acquired ParkMobile, LLC which is North America's leading provider of smart parking and convenience solutions to help millions of people search and pay for parking on their mobile device. Another like company they bought is DriveNow, a new mobile car sharing platform that makes getting from A to B quickly.
Value
In today's society, BMW’s market value is 47. 6 billion dollars. In the past years the
numbers have been declining because investors haven’t agreed with BMW’s way of business. Its current ratio is 114%. Their annual sales are 97. 48. BMW’s current price per share is $27. 21 and stock symbol is BMW. Their price per share is currently on the uprise and is looking like it will keep heading that way.
Future
In the future, passengers can choose whether to drive or to drive themselves. The BMW Group is unveiling its perspective on how driving enjoyment could look in the future with the BMW Vision M NEXT. This provides an insight into the future of the BMW M division's electrified future by putting firm emphasis on the actively engaged operator. Intelligent systems offer robust support that is carefully tailored to make them the ultimate engine. In the Future they are trying to move to all electric models. BMW is still no bystander to the game of the electric vehicle. For instance, they revealed their game plan to dominate this growing market space with the introduction of their BMW i3. For this business, conservation is the biggest goal of electrical engineering. They aim to revolutionize the vehicle design and construction system from the vehicles themselves to the way they are assembled, rendering it more competitive in terms of materials and techniques. As part of its cost-saving effort, BMW plans to cut as much as 6,000 jobs in Germany by 2022. Under the proposal that could be announced in December, most of the jobs at the carmaker's headquarters in Munich would be removed.
