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bmw cars history

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (info) (BMW), (English: Bavarian Motor Works) is an independent German automobile manufacturer. BMW is one of the world's leading performance-luxury manufacturers of cars and motorcycles, along with being the parent company of the MINI and Rolls-Royce car brands. bmw cars
bmw cars
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bmw cars
bmw cars
bmw cars
bmw cars

History

BMW was officially founded as a public company in 1922, but traces its origins to the pioneering days of German aviation all the way back to 1913. Two of these pioneering men, Karl Rapp and Gustav Otto, are credited by BMW as the "founding fathers". However, the company was actually founded by three men: Josef Popp, Max Friz, and Camillo Castiglioni. These men brought BMW through many turbulent times in the company's early life, as well as taking the company public in 1922 to form BMW AG.

Beginning with radio flyer engines, BMW AG produced a variety of products in its early years, eventually shifting to motorcycle production in 1923 and automobiles in 1929. The circular blue and white BMW logo, which has not been altered throughout the company's history, does not in fact symbolize a spinning propeller according to a BMW spokesman Joerg Huebner (although the imagery did appear in post-WWI advertisements). The BMW roundel badge is believed to have been partially derived from the logo of its predecessor company Rapp Motorenwerke, while ultimately taking on the colors and checkers from the arms of Bavaria (fusilly in bend argent and azure). Significant aircraft power plants of pre-WWII and WWII included the BMW 132 and BMW 801 air-cooled radial engines, and the pioneering BMW 003 axial-flow turbojet. BMW's factories were damaged badly in the war, and many surviving machine tools were confiscated by the victorious Allies.

BMW AG bought the British Rover Group (which at the time consisted of the Rover, Land Rover and MG marques as well as the rights to defunct marquees including Austin and Morris) in 1994 and owned it for six years. By 2000, Rover was making huge losses and BMW decided to sell the combine. The MG and Rover marques 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.

Country Make Cars


Germany BMW 905,057
United Kingdom Mini 187,454
Rolls-Royce 67
Austria BMW 114,306
USA BMW 105,172
South Africa BMW 54,782
Total 1,206,884