BMW AG originated with three other manufacturing companies, Rapp Motorenwerke and Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFw) in Bavaria, and Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach in Thuringia. The company is now known as BMW or Bayerische Motoren Werke. Aircraft engine manufacturer Rapp Motorenwerke became Bayerische Motorenwerke in 1916. The engine manufacturer, which built proprietary industrial engines after World War I, was then bought by the owner of BFw who then merged BFw into BMW and moved the engine works onto BFw's premises. BFw's motorcycle sideline was improved upon by BMW and became an integral part of their business.
BMW became an automobile manufacturer in 1929 when it purchased Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach, which, at the time, built Austin Sevens under licence under the Dixi marque. BMW's team of engineers progressively developed their cars from small Seven-based cars into six-cylinder luxury cars and, in 1936, began production of the BMW 328 sports car. Aircraft engines, motorcycles, and automobiles would be BMW's main products until World War II. During the war, against the wishes of its director Franz Josef Popp, BMW concentrated on aircraft engine production, with motorcycles as a side line and automobile manufacture stopped altogether.
After the war, BMW survived by making pots, pans, and bicycles until 1948, when it restarted motorcycle production. Meanwhile, BMW's factory in Eisenach fell in the Soviet occupation zone and the Soviets restarted production of pre-war BMW motorcycles and automobiles there. This continued until 1955, after which they concentrated on cars based on pre-war DKW designs. BMW began building cars in Bavaria in 1952 with the BMW 501 luxury saloon. Sales of their luxury saloons were too small to be profitable, so BMW supplemented this with building Isettas under licence. Slow sales of luxury cars and small profit margins from microcars caused the BMW board to consider selling the operation to Daimler-Benz. However, Herbert Quandt was convinced to purchase a controlling interest in BMW and to invest in its future.
Quandt's investment, along with profits from the BMW 700, brought about the BMW New Class and BMW New Six. These new products, along with the absorption of Hans Glas GmbH, gave BMW a sure footing on which to expand. BMW grew in strength, eventually acquiring the Rover Group (most of which was later divested), and the license to build automobiles under the Rolls-Royce marque.
Video History of BMW
History of Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFw)
Gustav Otto Flugmaschinenfabrik
Maps History of BMW
Origin and history of BMW to the end of World War I
Rapp Motorenwerke
In 1913, Karl Rapp established Rapp Motorenwerke near the Oberwiesenfeld. Rapp had chosen the site because it was close to Gustav Otto Flugmaschinenfabrik, with whom he had contracts to supply his four-cylinder aircraft engines.
Rapp was sub-contracted by Austro-Daimler to manufacture their V12 aircraft engines. Austro-Daimler at the time was unable to meet its own demands to build V12 Aero engines. The officer supervising aero-engine building at Austro-Daimler on behalf of the Austrian government was Franz Josef Popp. When it was decided to produce Austro-Daimler engines at Rapp Motorenwerke, Popp was delegated to Munich from Vienna to supervise engine quality.
Popp did not restrict himself to the role of observer, becoming actively involved in the overall management of the company. On 7 March 1916, Rapp Motorenwerke became Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH.
Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH 1917
For the small BMW business, the large orders received from the Reichswehr for the BMW IIIa engine were overwhelming. Under Karl Rapp, only a small number of engines had been produced and the manufacturing facilities were not in any way adequate to handle the mass production now required. Not only did BMW lack suitable machine tools but, to a very large degree, skilled manpower as well. However, the most serious drawback was in the small and aging workshops. Nevertheless, under the state-controlled war economy, officials in the relevant ministries were able to give BMW extensive practical support. So in a short time BMW got the skilled workers and machinery it needed. In addition, the Munich company received a high level of financial assistance, which enabled it to build a completely new factory from the ground up, in the immediate vicinity of the old workshops. Due to the share capital being too small, both the building of the new plant and the working capital needed for materials and wages had to be financed with external funds, i.e. bank loans or state assistance. The war ministries of Bavaria and Prussia (then both separate kingdoms within the Kaiser's Empire) did not, however, wish to go on supporting BMW with loans and guarantees, and therefore urged the flotation of a public limited company.
BMW logo
The name-change to Bayerische Motoren Werke compelled management to devise a new logo for the company, therefore the famous BMW trademark is designed and patented at this time. However, they remained true to the imagery of the previous Rapp Motorenwerke emblem (which was designed by Karl's brother, Ottmar Rapp). Thus, both the old and the new logo were built up in the same way: the company name was placed in a black circle, which was once again given a pictorial form by placing a symbol within it. By analogy with this, the blue and white panels of the Bavarian national flag were placed at the center of the BMW logo. Not until the late 1920s was the logo lent a new interpretation as representing a rotating propeller.
BMW AG
In 1917, Karl Rapp's son-in-law, Max Wiedmann, held about 80 percent of the shares in Rapp Motorenwerke. He had obtained most of these shares from his father-in- law in 1914 and had thus become a figure of great influence in the business. Even after the name-change to Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH, Wiedmann remained the principal shareholder in the company. Wiedmann's capitulation in July 1918 opened the way for the founding of a public limited company. On 13 August 1918, BMW AG was entered as a new company in the Commercial Register and took over from BMW GmbH all its manufacturing assets, order book and workforce. The old BMW GmbH was renamed "Maschinenwerke Schleißheimerstrasse" and was wound up on 12 November 1918. The share capital of BMW AG amounting to 12 million reichsmarks was subscribed by three groups of investors. One third of the shares was taken up in equal parts by the Bayerische Bank and the Norddeutsche Bank. A further third of the shares (worth 4 million reichsmarks) was acquired by the Nuremberg industrialist, Fritz Neumeyer. This ensured that 50 percent of the capital (6 million reichsmarks) was in the hands of Bavarian businesses or banks. The Bavarian government placed the highest value on this strong local shareholding. The final one-third of the BMW shares were taken up by a Viennese financier, Camillo Castiglioni.
First crisis for BMW AG - WWI aftermath
Winter 1918 factory closure
In order to enable companies to resume civil production as rapidly as possible, a central demobilization office was set up as soon as the war was over, and branches opened right across Germany. The Commissioner for Demobilization with responsibility for Bavaria ordered the closure of BMW's Munich plant with effect from 6 December 1918.
Return of Castiglioni and merger with BFw
On 20 May 1922, Castiglioni bought the BMW name and engine-building business from Knorr-Bremse for 75 million reichsmarks. The remainder of the company became a subsidiary of Knorr-Bremse and was renamed Süddeutsche Bremse AG.
Castiglioni did not purchase BMW's premises in his transaction with Knorr-Bremse. Instead, he merged his Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFw) into BMW and established BMW's factory and headquarters at BFw's premises. BMW was moved into the same buildings of Gustav Otto's former Otto-Flugzeugwerke on Lerchenauer Straße 76. BMW's headquarters have been at that address ever since.
Automobiles
Austin-licensed BMW Dixi
In 1928, BMW bought the Eisenach-based Dixi Automobil Werke AG from Gothaer Waggonfabrik. Dixi's sole product at the time of the purchase was the 3/15 PS, a licensed copy of the Austin 7, production of which had begun in 1927. The Dixi 3/15 became the BMW 3/15, BMW's first production car, upon the absorption of Dixi Werke into BMW.
BMW designs its own cars
Towards the end of 1930, BMW attempted to introduce a new front axle with independent wheel suspension for both their models, the BMW 'Dixi' 3/15 DA4 and BMW 'Wartburg' DA3, but this resulted in accidents with the prototypes because of construction faults.
Six-cylinder cars
In 1933, BMW introduced the 303. Larger and more conventional than the AM-series 3/20, the 303 used BMW's new M78 engine, making it the first BMW automobile to use a straight-six engine. The 303 was also the first BMW to use the "kidney grille" that would become a characteristic of BMW styling. The 303 formed the basis for the four-cylinder 309 and the larger-engined 315 and 319, while the 303 chassis supported the 315/1 and 319/1 roadsters and the restyled 329.
The 303 platform was supplemented and later supplanted by the 326, a larger car with a more rigid frame. Introduced in 1936, the 326 was BMW's first four-door sedan. A shortened version of the 326 frame was used in the 320, which replaced the 303-framed 329, in the 321, which replaced the 320, and in the 327 coupé.
The 328 replaced the 315/1 and 319/1 roadsters in 1936. Unlike the 303-based 315/1 and 319/1, the 328 had a purpose-built frame. While the 315/1 and 319/1 had M78 engines in a higher state of tune than in the respective 315 and 319 sedans, the 328's M328 engine had a specially-designed hemispheric cylinder head and other modifications that brought its power to 80 PS (59 kW). From its introduction at the Eifelrennen race at the Nürburgring in 1936, where Ernst Henne drove it to win the 2.0 litre class, to the overall victory of Fritz Huschke von Hanstein at the 1940 Brescia Grand Prix during World War II, the 328 was a legendary performer, with more than 100 class wins in 1937 alone.
An extended version of the 326's frame was used in the 335, a luxury car with the 3.5 litre M335 engine. The 335 was built from 1939 to 1941.
World War II
The German invasion of Poland and commencement of hostilities meant that manufacturing facilities in Germany were directed by the Nazi regime to re-focus on the manufacture of products required to support the war effort. In 1939, BMW bought Spandau-based Brandenburgische Motorenwerke, also known as Bramo, from the Siemens group of companies and merged it with its aircraft engine division under the name BMW Flugmotorenbau GmbH. A new factory at Allach, outside Munich, began production of aircraft engines later that year.
A wide range of aero engines was ultimately produced for the Luftwaffe, including one of the most powerful engines of the time - the BMW 801. Over 30,000 aero engines were manufactured through 1945, as well as over 500 jet engines such as the BMW 003. To enable this massive production effort, forced labor was utilized, consisting primarily of prisoners from concentration camps such as Dachau. By the end of the war, almost 50% of the 50,000-person workforce at BMW AG consisted of prisoners from concentration camps. BMW also developed some military aircraft projects for the Luftwaffe towards the last phase of the Third Reich, the BMW Strahlbomber, the BMW Schnellbomber and the BMW Strahljäger, but none of them were built.
Second crisis for BMW AG - WWII aftermath
BMW AG was heavily bombed towards the end of the war, reducing most of the company's production facilities to rubble. In fact, by the end of the war, the Munich plant was completely destroyed. BMW sites in eastern Germany (Eisenach-Dürrerhof, Wandlitz-Basdorf and Zühlsdorf) were seized by the Soviets.
After the war the Munich factory took some time to restart production in any volume. BMW was banned from manufacturing motor vehicles by the Allies. During this ban, BMW used basic secondhand and salvaged equipment to make pots and pans, later expanding to other kitchen supplies and bicycles. Permission to manufacture motorcycles was granted to BMW by United States authorities in 1947, and production of the R24 began in 1948.
In the east, the company's factory at Eisenach was taken over by the Soviet Awtowelo group. Production of the R35 motorcycle was restarted in 1945, with the 321 automobile following late that year. A mildly revised 327 entered production in 1948, followed by the 326-based 340 in 1949. These were sold under the BMW name with the BMW logo affixed to them. To protect its trademarks, BMW AG legally severed its Eisenach branch from the company. Awtowelo continued production of the 327 and 340 under the Eisenacher Motorenwerk (EMW) brand with a red and white version of the logo until 1955.
In the west, the Bristol Aeroplane Company (BAC) inspected the factory, and returned to Britain with plans for the 327 model and the six-cylinder engine as official war reparations. Bristol then employed BMW engineer Fritz Fiedler to lead their engine development team. In 1947, the newly formed Bristol Cars released their 400 coupé, a lengthened version of the BMW 327. that featured BMW's double-kidney grille.
While Alfred Böning had returned to BMW and developed the R24 and Fritz Fiedler had gone to work for Bristol, Alex von Falkenhausen and Ernst Loof had each started companies that built sports cars and racing cars. Von Falkenhausen started Alex von Falkenhausen Motorenbau (AFM), while Loof, in partnership with Georg Meier and Lorenz Dietrich, started Veritas. AFM and Veritas both competed in Formula 2, but both companies had shut down operations by 1954, when both von Falkenhausen and Loof went back to BMW.
Three approaches to car manufacture
By the end of the 1940s BMW had returned to motorcycle manufacture but still had not restarted automobile manufacture. Kurt Donath, technical director of BMW and general manager of the Milbertshofen factory, solicited manufacturers, including Ford and Simca, to produce their vehicles under licence. In particular, Donath was looking to produce old models under licence, so that he could buy tooling along with the licence.
While Donath was trying to find a car to build under licence, chief engineer Alfred Böning developed a prototype for a small economy car powered by a motorcycle engine. Called the BMW 331, the prototype used a 600 cc motorcycle engine, a four-speed gearbox, and a live rear axle. The body was designed by Peter Schimanowski and resembled a BMW 327 in miniature.
The BMW 331 was proposed for production to the management, where it was vetoed by sales director Hanns Grewenig. Grewenig, a banker and former Opel plant manager, believed that BMW's small production capacity was best suited to luxury cars with high profit margins, similar to the cars BMW made just before the war. To this end, he had Böning and his team design the 501.
When the 501 was introduced in 1951, its cost of approximately DM15,000 was about four times the average German's earnings. It was also much heavier than expected and underpowered with a development of BMW's pre-war two litre six. Delays in receiving and setting up equipment caused production of the 501 to be delayed until late 1952, with body construction, originally expected to be done in-house, being done by Karosserie Baur in Stuttgart for more than a year.
In 1954, the 501 was given an improved, more powerful version of its six-cylinder engine and split into two models, the 501A at basically the same trim level and a price reduction of DM1,000, and a decontented 501B at a further price reduction of DM1,000 below the 501A's price. In addition, the 502, basically a 501 with an even higher trim level and a 2.6 L aluminium V8 engine designed by B?ning and Fiedler, was introduced to lead BMW's luxury sedan range. The expanded line for 1954 doubled the sales of BMW's luxury cars.
Influenced by the public response to the introduction of Mercedes-Benz's 300SL and 190SL show cars at the International Motor Sports Auto Show in New York in February 1954, the management of BMW approved Grewenig's proposal to build a sports car based on the 502. Preliminary design sketches were seen by U.S. importer Max Hoffman, who suggested to industrial designer Albrecht von Goertz that he should submit design proposals to BMW's management as an alternative. Based on these proposals, BMW contracted the design of the sports car and a four-seat grand tourer to von Goertz in November 1954. The 507 roadster was introduced at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York in the summer of 1955, while the 503 four-seater was introduced in September of that year at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
Hoffman told BMW that he would order 2000 507s if he could sell them for US$5,000 each. When the selling price was given as about twice that, and higher than the 300SL, he withdrew his offer. 412 units of the 503 and 253 of the 507 were built during their production runs from 1956 (May for the 503, November for the 507) to March 1959.
Motorcycles were BMW's largest money earner at the time, and their sales had peaked in 1954. Germans were turning away from mopeds and motorcycles toward light automobiles such as the Messerschmitt and the Goggomobil. Eberhard Wolff, BMW's head of automotive development, saw the Iso Rivolta Isetta bubble car at the 1954 Geneva Motor Show and suggested to his managers the possibility of building the Isetta under licence. BMW entered talks with Iso Rivolta and bought both a licence to manufacture the Isetta and all the tooling needed to manufacture its body. Production of BMW's version of the Isetta began in 1955; more than ten thousand Isettas were sold that year. BMW made more than a hundred thousand Isettas by the end of 1958, and a total of 161,728 by the end of production in 1962.
BMW knew that it needed a four-seat family car to keep up with the rising wealth and expectations of the German people, but it could not access funding to develop a new car for this market. They therefore developed the 600, a four-seat car based on the Isetta. The 600 used the front suspension, the front seats, and the front-mounted door from the Isetta, but used a new, longer ladder frame with a longer, four-seat body, a rear-mounted 0.6 L flat-twin motorcycle engine, and a full-width rear track. The 600's rear suspension was BMW's first use of the semi-trailing arm system that would be used on their sedans and coupes until the 1990s. Released in 1957, the 600 could not compete against the larger, more powerful Volkswagen Beetle. Production ended in 1959 after fewer than 35,000 were built.
Third crisis for BMW AG - a company for sale
By 1959, BMW was in debt and losing money. The Isetta was selling well but with small profit margins. Their 501-based luxury sedans were not selling well enough to be profitable and were becoming increasingly outdated. Their 503 coupé and 507 roadster were too expensive to be profitable. Their 600, a four-seater based on the Isetta, was selling poorly. The motorcycle market imploded in the mid-1950s with increased affluence turning Germans away from motorcycles and toward cars. BMW had sold their Allach plant to MAN in 1954. American Motors and the Rootes Group had both tried to acquire BMW.
At BMW's annual general meeting on 9 December 1959, Dr. Hans Feith, chairman of BMW's supervisory board, proposed a merger with Daimler-Benz. The dealers and small shareholders opposed this suggestion and rallied around a counter-proposal by Dr. Friedrich Mathern, which gained enough support to stop the merger. At that time, the Quandt Group, led by half-brothers Herbert and Harald Quandt, had recently increased their holdings in BMW and had become their largest shareholder. By the end of November 1960, the Quandts owned two-thirds of BMW's stock between them.
By this time BMW had launched the 700, a small car with an air-cooled, rear-mounted 697 cc boxer engine derived from the engine powering the R67 motorcycle. It was available as a 2-door sedan and as a coupe, both versions having been designed by Giovanni Michelotti. There was also a more powerful RS model for racing.
At the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1961, BMW launched the 1500, a compact sedan with front disc brakes and four-wheel independent suspension. This modern specification further cemented BMW's reputation for sporting cars. It was the first BMW to officially feature the "Hofmeister kink", the rear window line that has been the hallmark of all BMWs since then.
The "New Class" 1500 was developed into 1600 and 1800 models. In 1966, the two-door version of the 1600 was launched, along with a convertible in 1967. These models began the '02' series, of which the 2002 was the best known, and which was continued until 1976 when it was replaced by the BMW 3 Series.
By 1963, with the company back on its feet, BMW offered dividends to its shareholders for the first time since World War II.
Rover
Between 1994 and 2001, under the leadership of Bernd Pischetsrieder, BMW owned the British Rover Group, having bought it from British Aerospace. This brought the active Rover, Mini and Land Rover brands as well as rights to many dormant marques such as Austin, Morris, Riley, Triumph and Wolseley under BMW ownership.
The venture was not successful. Already struggling after years of industrial disputes, Rover had a poor reputation but in trying to improve its image it would become a rival to the BMW market segment. BMW found it difficult to reposition the English automaker alongside its own products and the Rover division was faced with endless changes in its marketing strategy. In the six years under BMW, Rover was positioned as a premium automaker, a mass-market automaker, a division of BMW and an independent unit. A five-part BBC documentary, When Rover Met BMW (1996), gave some insight into the difficulties faced by the two firms.
It is possible that some development work on the Rover R30 model may have eventually benefitted the BMW 1 Series.
Production outside Germany
BMW signed an agreement in 1999 with Avtotor to produce cars in Kaliningrad, Russia. The Factory has been assembling 3 and 5 -series cars.
Starting from October 2004, BMWs intended for the Chinese market are produced in Shenyang, China. BMW has established a joint venture with Chinese manufacturer Brilliance to build BMW 3 Series and 5 Series that have been modified for the needs of local markets.
The BMW X3 was manufactured in Graz, Austria between 2004 and 2007 by Magna Steyr with mainly German components. The X3 production will be moved to the Spartanburg plant due in part to high production and transportation costs of what was meant to be the "more affordable" SUV. North American pricing, after said costs, were nearly on par with the larger, American-built X5.
In 2005, BMW Group built a new manufacturing facility in Egypt. This plant builds 3 Series, 5 Series, 7 Series, and X3 vehicles for the African and Middle East markets.
BMW opened its first assembly plant in Chennai, India in March 2007 to assemble 3-series and 5-series vehicles. The 20 Million Euro plant aims to produce 1,700 cars per year in, unveiled on January 2, 2003, and officially launched at the Detroit Auto Show on January 5, 2003. The model, priced around US$330,000, has experienced record sales worldwide of 796 Phantoms sold in 2005. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, BMW's subsidiary manufacturing Rolls-Royces, has since launched the Rolls-Royce Ghost.
See also
- BMW Group Classic
References
- Citations
- Sources
- Kiley, David (2004). Driven: Inside BMW, the Most Admired Car Company in the World. Hoboken, NJ US: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-26920-4. Retrieved 2013-03-03.
- Lewin, Tony (2004). "Faded glory". The Complete Book of BMW: Every Model since 1950. St. Paul, MN USA: Motorbooks International. pp. 23-37. ISBN 0-7603-1951-0. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
- Madslien, Jorn (2007-03-29). "BMW unveils India assembly plant". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2012-11-12. Retrieved 2011-12-18.
- Melissen, Pieter (2009-04-17). "Bmw 700 rs". Wouter Melissen. Archived from the original on 2012-04-15. Retrieved 2010-06-23.
- Noakes, Andrew (2005). The Ultimate History of BMW. Bath, UK: Parragon Publishing. ISBN 1-4054-5316-8.
- Norbye, Jan P. (1984). BMW - Bavaria's Driving Machines. Skokie, IL, USA: Publications International. ISBN 0-517-42464-9. LCCN 84060309.
- Seeliger, Georg (1993). BMW 503/507: Die V8-Sportmodelle (in German). Stuttgart: Motorbuch Verlag. p. 83. ISBN 3-613-01563-3.
- Wang, James Jixian; Wang, James; Olivier, Daniel; Notteboom, Theo; Slack, Brian (2007). Ports, Cities, and Global Supply Chains. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 0-7546-7054-6. Retrieved 2008-08-24.
- Williams, Stephen (2010-01-07). "NY Times BMW Roundel Not Born From Planes". Wheels.blogs.nytimes.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-10. Retrieved 2011-12-18.
- BMW Historical Archives Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH
- "BFI | Film & TV Database | WHEN ROVER MET BMW". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. Retrieved 2011-12-18.
- "BMW increasing Spartanburg production to 200,000 yearly". BMW Car Club of America. Archived from the original on 2007-11-12.
- "BMW Group Company History Milestones". Bmwgroup.com. Retrieved 2011-12-18.
- monocom gmbh Dingolfing. "BMW Munich Plant". Bmw-werk-muenchen.de. Location - History - 1922. Archived from the original on December 1, 2012. Retrieved 2011-12-18.
- "BMW 507 and 503 (1955-1960)". Rome, Italy: FTM Studio. 21 November 2006. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
- The Dachau Concentration Camp, 1933 to 1945. Comite International Dachau. 2005. p. 171. ISBN 3-87490-751-1.
- "BMW 2002". drivingtoday.com. Archived from the original on 2007-05-10. Retrieved 2007-06-22.
- Article 'Die Schwingachse des Kleinen,' Motor-Kritik magazine, issue 3, early February 1931.
- "BMW launches new plant in Shenyang". english.people.com.cn. Retrieved 2007-06-22.
- "Production of new BMW 5 series begins in Kaliningrad". Pravda. Pravda.Ru. 2004-03-29. Archived from the original on 2009-02-15.
Further reading
- Halwart Schrader, Automobile Quarterly Editors (1985). The History of BMW. Dutton Books. ISBN 0-525-12522-1. CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link)
- Halwart Schrader, Ron Wakefield (1979). Bmw: A History. Motorbooks Intl. ISBN 0-915038-15-3.
External links
- BMW Group archives
- BMW models history in pictures
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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