Company Overview
Highlights
Received three sustainability awards from the SAM Group in 2008.
Achieved record sales in Asia and the Middle East in 2007.
Appointed Dr. Norbert Reithofer as chairman of the board of management in 2006.
The motors that BMW’s middle initial represents started off not as the automobile and motorcycle motors for which the company is now famous, but for the motors that spun the propellers on aircraft. The blue and white fields of the firm’s logo, a stylized version of a propeller spinning, attest to this.
Nowadays, the company’s reach extends far beyond the BMW name to Rolls Royce and MINI. BMW owned the rights to the Rolls Royce name since 1998, but has only been producing the cars itself in 2003. Before then, Volkswagen made the famed luxury sedans. BMW began producing automobiles in the United States in 1995 with the opening of its Spartanburg, South Carolina, plant. The plant, into which BMW pumped $800 million, spits out Z3, M, and X5 models. In 2007, BMW announced new product strategies, including plans to launch six new vehicles in the U.S. in coming years. The six planned offerings include a car/SUV crossover (possible debut in 2010), a four-door sedan (2009), a limited-edition 4-door sedan priced above the 7 Series, an electric car by MINI (summer 2009), MINI crossover (after 2010), smaller version of the Rolls-Royce Phantom (2010 or later), and a coupe version of the Phantom (2008).
After a challenging 2005, during which the automaker saw profits drop by about 6 percent, BMW sales increased and broke records in both 2006 and 2007. Unfortunately, this fate was not slated for 2008, which started off on a promising sales track, but because of the slumping economy, BMW lost profits in the form of less revenue from returned lease vehicles. Because of this, the company plans to reduce production and increase prices.