Key Events of Bmw

Chapter 5: Key Events

The history of BMW can be traced to the establishment of Rapp-Motorenwerke by Karl

Rapp in Munich (Germany) in 1913. The company initially produced aircraft engines.

The modern day Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) officially came into existence in

1917, when Max Friz and Franz-Josef Popp took over Karl Rapp's business. The

following year the company went public. The first factory of BMW was constructed in

Neulerchenfeldstrasse, Germany. In 1928, BMW purchased the Eisenach/Thuringia car

factory along with the license to construct a small car named Dixi. In 1940, the company

commissioned a streamlined body for the famed sports car of the period, Mille Miglia.

BMW entered the small car segment with the Isetta in 1956. The company released its

first sporty family sedan, the new 1500 in 1961. In 1966, BMW purchased the ailing Glas

Company and converted Dingofling into its biggest plant over the following years.

BMW's first 5 Series car was launched in 1972. During the same year BMW Motorsport

GmbH was founded. Almost a decade later, BMW became the first European company

to set up a subsidiary in Japan. In 1986, the company unveiled the BMW 745i, which

was the first European car to be equipped with an internal fuel preparation and liquid

hydrogen tank. The 8501 Coupé was launched in 1989. Also during the year, BMW

acquired the process engineering specialist, Kontron GmbH.

More than a decade later, in 2001, BMW took several steps to expand its capacity.

Production of the BMW X5 was increased by over XX% at the company's Spartanburg

plant in the USA. Also, production commenced at the company's Hams Hall plant in

Great Britain. BMW decided to construct a new plant in the Leipzig/Halle region, with an

investment of €X.X billion. In 2002, to derive full advantage of the market potential in

Poland at the time, BMW set up its own sales company there. In the latter half of 2002,

BMW initiated restructuring of its European sales network following the Block Exemption

Regulation (BER)

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