Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), (English: Bavarian Motor Works) is a German automobile and motorcycle manufacturing company. It's known for its performance and luxury vehicles. It owns and produces the MINI brand, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

The circular blue and white BMW logo or roundel is often alleged to portray the movement of an airplane propeller, to signify the white blades cutting through the blue sky - an interpretation that BMW adopted for convenience in 1929, which was actually twelve years after the roundel was created. In fact, the emblem evolved from the circular Rapp Motorenwerke company logo, from which the BMW company grew. The Rapp logo was combined with the blue and white colors of the flag of Bavaria to produce the BMW roundel so familiar today.

BMW AG bought the British Rover Group (which at the time consisted of the Rover, Land Rover and MG brands as well as the rights to defunct brands 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 brands 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.

Chief designer Chris Bangle announced his departure from BMW after serving on the design team for nearly seventeen years. He will be replaced by Adrian van Hooydonk, Bangle's former right hand man. Bangle was famously (or infamously) known for his radical designs such as the 2002 7-Series and the 2002 Z4.

Production. Total world production in 2006 was 1,366,838 vehicles produced in 5 countries.

Motorcycles. Motorcycle division is now known as BMW Motorrad. Their first successful motorcycle was the "R32" in 1923. Many BMWs are still produced in this layout, which is designated the R Series.

1939: BMW produced the BMW R75 motorcycle with a sidecar attached.

1983: came the K Series (affectionately known as "The Flying Brick").

2004: BMW introduced the new K1200S Sports Bike which marked a departure for BMW. It is both powerful (the engine is a 167hp (125kW) unit derived from the company's work with the Williams F1 team) and significantly lighter than previous K models. It was BMW's latest attempt to keep up with the pace of development of sports machines from the likes of Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Suzuki. Innovations include a unique electronically adjustable front and rear suspension, and a Hossack-type front fork BMW calls Duolever.

BMW was one of the earliest manufacturers to offer anti-lock brakes on production motorcycles starting in the late 1980s.

Automobiles. BMW CS Concept

• 1990 BMW M8 Prototype: A high-performance version of the 8 Series coupe that was designed to compete with Ferrari and other exotics. It was never put into production because of the lack of a market for such a car.

• 1999 Z9: a concept car designed by Adrian van Hooydonk that marked a departure from BMW's traditional conservative style, causing some controversy among BMW enthusiasts. This later on became the 6-series.

• BMW 750hL: showcased at Expo 2000 at the BMW World exhibit. A 7 Series sedan powered by a hydrogen fuel cell engine. As of March 2007, there are as many as 100 750hL vehicles worldwide for testing & publicity purposes.See the BMW website.

• 2001 BMW X-Coupe

• 2007 BMW CS Concept: Was set to be turned into a production vehicle, but later canceled.

• 2008 Concept 1 series tii: A high-performance tuned version of the 1 Series. "tii" references the 2002tii model.

• 2008 BMW GINA: concept based on the structure of a Z8 with a light fabric skin and hydro-electric technology to allow the shape to change.

• 2008 BMW Concept X1: BMW first Sports Activity Vehicle in the compact class.

Series generations. Internally, BMW associates an "e-code" for each generation of a series ("E" stands for Entwicklung, German for development or evolution). These "chassis codes" only change to signify a major redesign of a series, or the introduction of a new series. BMW AG reported in September 2006 that BMW would switch to the letter "F" for their future models, beginning with the F01 7 Series replacement.

• BMW E3 - (1968-1977)

• BMW E9 - (1969-1975) 2800CS, 3.0CS, 3.0CSL "New Six" Coupés

• BMW E12 - (1974-1981) 5 Series

• BMW E21 - (1976-1983) 3 Series

• BMW E23 - (1977-1986) 7 Series

• BMW E24 - (1976-1989) 6 Series

• BMW E26 - (1978-1981) M1

• BMW E28 - (1981-1987) 5 Series

• BMW E30 - (1984-1991) 3 Series (1982-1983 E30 sold in Europe)

• BMW E31 - (1989-1997) 8 Series

• BMW E32 - (1986-1994) 7 Series

• BMW E34 - (1988-1995) 5 Series

• BMW E36 - (1992-1999) 3 Series

• BMW E36/5 - (1995-1998) 3 Series Compact (US market known as "318ti")

• BMW E36/7 - (1996-2002) Z3 Series Roadster

• BMW E36/8 - (1998-2002) Z3 Series Coupé

• BMW E38 - (1994-2001) 7 Series

• BMW E38/2 - (1994-2001) 7 Series long wheelbase

• BMW E38/3 - (1998-2001) 7 Series Protection

• BMW E39 - (1995-2003) 5 Series

• BMW E46/5 - (2000-2004) 3 Series Compact

• BMW E46/4 - (1998-2005) 3 Series Sedan

• BMW E46/3 - (1999-2005) 3 Series Touring/Sports Wagon

• BMW E46/2 - (1999-2006) 3 Series Coupé

• BMW E46/C - (1999-2006) 3 Series Convertible

• BMW E52 - (2000-2003) Z8

• BMW E53 - (2000-2006) X5

• BMW E60 - (2004-present) 5 Series

• BMW E61 - (2004-2007) 5 Series Touring/Sports Wagon

• BMW E63 - (2004-present) 6 Series Coupé

• BMW E64 - (2004-present) 6 Series convertible

• BMW E65 - (2001-2007) 7 Series short wheelbase

• BMW E66 - (2001-2007) 7 Series long wheelbase

• BMW E67 - (2001-2007) 7 Series Protection

• BMW E68 - (2005-2007) Hydrogen 7

• BMW E70 - (2007-present) X5

• BMW E71 - (2008) X6

• BMW E81 - (2007-present) 1 Series (3-door)

• BMW E82 - (2007-present) 1 Series Coupé

• BMW E83 - (2004-present) X3

• BMW E85 - (2003-present) Z4

• BMW E86 - (2006-present) Z4 Coupé

• BMW E87 - (2004-present) 1 Series (5-door)

• BMW E88 - (2008) 1 Series Convertible

• BMW E89 - (2009) Z4

• BMW E90 - (2005-present) 3 Series

• BMW E91 - (2005-present) 3 Series Touring/Sports Wagon

• BMW E92 - (2006-present) 3 Series Coupé

• BMW E93 - (2007-present) 3 Series Convertible

• BMW F01 - (2008) 7 Series

• BMW F02 - (2009) 7 Series long wheelbase

Environmental record. The company is a charter member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Environmental Achievement Track, which recognizes companies for their environmental stewardship and performance.

However, there have been some criticisms directed at BMW, and in particular, accusations of greenwash in reference to their BMW Hydrogen 7. Some critics claim that the emissions produced during hydrogen fuel production outweigh the reduction of tailpipe emissions, and that the Hydrogen 7 is a distraction from more immediate, practical solutions for car pollution. 

Bicycles. BMW has created a range of high-end bicycles sold online and through dealerships. They range from the Kid's Bike to the EUR 4,499 Enduro Bike. In the United States, only the Cruise Bike and Kid's Bike models are sold.

Overseas subsidiaries.

South Africa

BMWs have been assembled in South Africa since 1970, when Praetor Monteerders' plant was opened in Rosslyn, near Pretoria. BMW acquired the company in 1973, which became BMW South Africa, the first wholly-owned subsidiary of BMW to be established outside Germany. Three unique models that BMW Motorsport created for the South African market were the BMW 333i, which added a 6-cylinder 3.2 litre engine to the BMW 3 Series, the BMW 325is which was powered by an Alpina derived 2.7 litre engine, and the E23 M745i, which used the engine from the BMW M1.

Unlike U.S. manufacturers, such as Ford and GM, which divested from the country in the 1980s, BMW retained full ownership of its operations in South Africa.

Following the end of apartheid in 1994, and the lowering of import tariffs, BMW South Africa ended local production of the 5-Series and 7-Series, in order to concentrate on production of the 3-Series for the export market. South African-built BMWs are now exported to right hand drive markets including Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Hong Kong, as well as Sub-Saharan Africa. Since 1997, BMW South Africa has produced vehicles in left hand drive for export to Taiwan, the United States and Iran, as well as South America.

BMW's with a VIN number starting with "NC0" are manufactured in South Africa.

USA

BMW factory in Spartanburg

BMW Manufacturing Co has been manufacturing the X5, and more recently, also the X6 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA. The smaller X3 is slated to begin production in Spartanburg in 2009-2010.

BMW's with a VIN number starting with "4US" are manufactured in Spartanburg.

India

BMW established in 2006 a sales subsidiary in Gurgaon (National Capital Region) and a state-of-the-art assembly plant for BMW 3 and 5 Series started operation in early 2007 in Chennai. The construction of the plant started in January 2006 with an initial investment of more than one billion Indian Rupees. The plant started fullfledged operation in the first quarter of 2007 and produces the different variants of BMW 3 Series and BMW 5 Series.

China

In May 2004 BMW opened a factory in Shenyang, north-east China, in a joint venture with Brilliance China Automotive.The factory is expected to produce 30,000 3 and 5 Series annually. BMW also has plans for a 2nd factory in China where the 1 Series will be produced.

Canada

In October 2008, BMW Group Canada was named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc., which was announced by the Toronto Star newspaper.

2009 job cuts. In February, 2009, BMW cut 850 jobs at their plant near Oxford, England. The third of the workers that were agency staff did not receive any redundancy pay. Agency staff expressed their fury at being given just one hour's notice of the redundancies.

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