Brief history of BMW

BMW has come a long way from its beginnings as a manufacturer of aircraft engines to one of the most popular manufacturers of family, luxury and sports cars today.

The company started in 1913 as the Rapp-Motorenwerke firm, manufacturing aircraft engines, before merging with the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke factory, located near the outskirts of Munich, in 1922. The letters BMW stand for Bayerische Motoren Werke.

In its early days, BMW manufactured mainly aircraft engines and occasionally motorcycle engines. In fact, the BMW badge was designed to resemble an airplane propeller, and it was not until 1929 that the firm became an automobile manufacturer after purchasing the Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach factory that produced Austin Sevens.

Developing the style of car manufactured over time, in 1936 BMW began producing the 328 sports car which enjoyed incredible success. In 1999, the BMW 328 was nominated as the car of the century.

During the three years leading up to World War II, BMW manufactured aircraft, motorcycle and automobile engines. During the war, the company focused on aircraft engines and stopped making cars altogether. In 1948, motorcycle manufacturing started again, but it wasn’t until 1952 that BMW started making cars once again. However, the launch of the BMW 501 luxury car was not a great success and the company did not make a profit as a result, so the company brought the design and build rights to the Isetta, a cheap-to-build microcar. and started selling these.

BMW’s fortunes changed over the next decade and the 1960s brought considerable success for the firm. The BMW 1500, a four-cylinder sports car, was introduced in 1961, followed shortly after by the BMW 2002, a two-door car that remained in production until 1976 and was the predecessor to the BMW 3 Series.

The 1970s saw BMW continue to build its reputation for creating original and sought-after cars, as this decade saw the launch of the Series 3, 5 and 7. Between 1970 and 1993, BMW quadrupled its production and turnover by an incredible 1,700%. .

Between 1994 and 2000, BMW owned the British Rover Group, but the venture was unsuccessful and the company soon got rid of Rover. However, BMW retained the rights to Mini and has enjoyed, and continues to enjoy, considerable achievements in this business.

Today, BMW is seen as an innovative manufacturer and has a reputation for excellence, both for its design and for the quality of the cars.