HISTORY OF BMW
BMW AG originated with three other manufacturing companies,
Rapp Motorenwerke and Bayerische Flugzeuwerke (BFw) in Bavaria, and
Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach in Thuringia. The company is now known as BMW or
Bayerische Motorenwerke in1916. The engine manufacturer. Which built
proprietary indrustrial engines after World War I, was then bought by the owner
of BFw who the merged into BMW and moved the engine works onto Bfw’s motorcycle
sideline was improved upon by BW and became an integral part pf their business.
BMW became an automobile manufacturer in1929 when it purchased
Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach, which at the time built Austin Sevens under license
under the Dixi marque. BMW’s team of engineers progressively develop their cars
from small Seven-based cars into six-cylinder luxury cars and, in 1936, began
the production of 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 1952 with the BMW 501 luxury saloon. Sales of their
luxury saloons were too small to be profitable, so BMW supplemented this
building Isettas under license. 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 for the Mini brand before selling it to
the Phoenix Group, and the license to build automobiles under the Rolls-Royce
marque.
BMW’s MODEL
SOURCES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_BMW
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