BMW was only able to restart production of aero-engines in 1922. Shortly afterwards, the company launched its first motorcycle with the BMW R 32 in 1923.
The much-acclaimed premiere at the Berlin Motor Show and the subsequent sales and sporting successes prove that BMW was not just able to build outstanding aero-engines. The basic concept with a 2-cylinder Boxer engine and cardan drive continue to define the design of BMW motorcycles to the present day. Alongside aero-engines, motorcycle production for a long time remained the second mainstay of the company.
Beginnings of automobile construction and war-time production. An opportunity arose in 1928 to acquire automotive factory Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach. BMW initially started up
production of a small English car under licence and followed up with its own production from 1932. Just a few years later, the product range was expanded with a sporty car in the mid-range. However, aircraft construction
remained the most important focus of the company until the end of the Second World War. During the Second World War, BMW was extremely important for the war effort as an armaments company and had to abandon civil production of
aero-engines and automobiles in 1941 following instructions from the government. As early as 1940, BMW was using foreign workers in its production processes. After 1942, criminals, prisoners of war from Eastern Europe, forced
workers mainly from Western Europe and detainees in concentration camps had to work in BMW's factories. The proportion of foreigners in the BMW workforce increased from around 3% in 1940 to some 51% in 1944. In common with most
of German industry at the time, a technocratic concept of efficiency guided the approach taken by BMW managers and the use of forced labour was tacitly accepted and approved. In 1983, BMW AG raised the issue in the public
domain for the first time with publication of a book entitled "The BMW Story – A Company in its Time" by Horst Mönnich. In 1999, BMW joined forces with other companies in the German economy to establish the foundation
"Remembrance, Responsibility, Future" for paying compensation to former forced labourers and also engaged with its own past in numerous publications. BMW AG supports many organisations throughout the world and has initiated
projects for promoting dialogue between cultures in an atmosphere of respect.
The post-war period – a difficult new beginning. After the war came to an end in 1945, BMW lost its production site in Eisenach in the Soviet zone of occupation. This meant that
the company also lost its expertise in automobile and motorcycle manufacture. It only succeeded in putting its first post-war motorcycle on the road in the form of the BMW R 24 in 1948 and continued to expand the product range
from this starting point. In 1952, BMW relaunched automobile production with luxury cars at the top end of the range. Unfortunately, sales were unable to cover the production and development costs. Even the manufacture of the
Isetta small car from 1955 onwards was unable to solve the deep-seated financial crisis of the Group. Only the actions of some small shareholders prevented the company from being purchased by Daimler-Benz AG at the
Shareholders' Meeting in 1959. The industrialist Dr. Herbert Quandt formulated a plan for rationalising the group – and thereby secured an independent future for Bayerische Motoren Werke. A new product range of sporty
small and mid-range cars launched an upswing in sales.
BMW becomes international: expansion of capacities. Production capacities at the parent plant in Munich soon began to reach their limits due to the high level of demand for the
new products. After automobile company Hans Glass GmbH was purchased in 1967, BMW vehicles have also been rolling off the assembly lines in Dingolfing and Landshut. Motorcycle production was also transferred from Munich to the
Berlin-Spandau plant in 1969. Space was in short supply not least on the administrative side. In 1973, BMW opened the new BMW Head Office ("Four Cylinder") together with the BMW Museum in a striking "Bowl" design. The BMW Tower
remains a landmark on the skyline of the Bavarian state capital to this day. In the 1970s and 1980s, BMW developed into an automobile manufacturer with the highest growth in the world. The expansion of the product ranges for
cars and motorcycles demanded gradual expansion of production capacities and the sales network. Important milestones in production were the engine plant in Steyr, Austria (1979) and the production facilities in Regensburg
(1986), Spartanburg (1994/USA) and Leipzig (2005). A process of establishing dedicated sales companies and subsidiaries in the most important significant markets was launched in 1973. The BMW Group thus laid the foundation
stone for the global profile today in more than 140 countries on five continents. The purchase of the Rover Group in 1994 was intended to expand the product range of automobiles even further. However, the development options
were overestimated at the outset and the BMW Group decided to sell its British subsidiary in 2000.
Realignment of the BMW Group: the brands MINI, BMW and Rolls-Royce. Only the MINI brand was retained by the
company and this has experienced a successful renaissance under the management of BMW since 2001. The rights to the brand and name of Rolls-Royce had already been purchased in July 1998. The new Rolls-Royce Phantom has been
rolling off the production line at the Goodwood production facility in the United Kingdom since 2003 and this marked the successful relaunch of the brand. Sports motorcycles of the Husqvarna brand have complemented the product
range of the BMW Group since October 2007. Today the BMW Group has a dense global sales network and 25 production locations in 14 countries, employing more than 100,000 people. Sales of 1.6 million cars and 113,000 motorcycles
ranked BMW the most successful manufacturer of premium automobiles worldwide in 2011.
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