3000 New Bmw 7 Series Cars example essay topic

BMW was founded in 1929 and its motorcycles soon became famous for setting speed records. During World War II, BMW built the worlds first jet airplane engines, used by the Luftwaffe, Germany air force. After the war the company tried to move into the small-car market but found that it could not compete with Volkswagen compact, inexpensive autos. By 1969 the company was on the verge of bankruptcy and owed the equivalent of $29,000,000 to the Bavarian government. In that year BMW finally began to pull out of its financial slump when it introduced its new line of cars. The cars were of conventional design but drove, and were priced, like sports cars.

At about the same time, the company introduced a new series of motorcycles, which were particularly popular in Europe. Product has always been king at BMW. The tasks of product concept development and design are to be combined with sales, marketing and materials purchasing in a new task area bearing the title Market and Product. Dr. Wolfgang Reitz le, until now responsible for Research, Development and Purchasing within the Board of Management of BMW AG, will be in charge of this division. Product engineering is to be combined with the tasks of manufacturing planning and production to form a new Engineering and Production task area to be headed by Prof. Joachim Milberg, hitherto Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Production.

The traditional Research and Development, Production and Sales and Marketing Divisions will benefit from novel, process-oriented structures which are unprecedented in the automotive industry. Already many years ago, BMW first implemented the principle of inter divisional project organization when creating its Research & Development Center (FIZ). The latest reorganization represents the next logical progression. Bernd Pischetsrieder, Chairman of the BMW Board of Management of BMW AG, regards the reorganization, coming on the back of BMWs most successful year to date, as a further significant step towards securing the company's long-term success. By interlinking our sales and marketing functions with the concept development of new products, we establish a basis for extending our lead.

Process-oriented engineering will yield even faster and more accurate results. In the same way that we laid the foundations of our current success by making changes in the corporate organization in the past, this consistent stop serves as the basis for success in years to come, Mr. Pischetsrieder said. The chief characteristic of the year 2001 for the BMW Group was its current product and market offensive, spurred on by a 26.4% increase in capital expenditure to euro 3,516 million. The capital expenditure ratio (capital expenditure as a percentage of Group revenue amounting to euro 38,463 million) was therefore 9.1%. In accordance with the requirements of International Accounting Standards (IAS), which were adopted by the BMW Group for accounting and financial reporting in 2001, capital expenditure also includes development costs of euro 665 million which have been recognized as assets. The bulk of capital expenditure related to the BMW Automobiles segment with a total volume of euro 3,055 million (+28.6%).

Extensive measures have been taken in this segment to prepare for the launch of new models, to ensure that the Group maintains its technological and innovative leadership and to expand production capacities. As in previous years, capital expenditure was financed fully out of cash flow which increased in 2001 to euro 4,202 million (+11.1%). The product range was expanded in 2001 by the successful launch of the new BMW 7 Series and the new MINI brand models in Europe. Other BMW product innovations in 2001 were the new 3 Series compact model, the M 3 convertible, the updated BMW 3 Series and the X 5 4.6 is. The BMW Group delivered a total of 905,700 cars to customers in 2001. The number of BMW-brand cars delivered to customers went up by 7.1% to 880,700 units, a new record.

This growth was due principally to the strong demand for the various models of the BMW 3 Series and the market success of the Sports Activity Vehicle BMW X 5. In addition, some 25,000 MINI brand vehicles (including 10,650 in Great Britain) were sold between July 2001, when the MINI was launched, and 31 December 2001. The sales volume of BMW Motorcycles (including the C 1) rose by 17.3% to 95,350 units. Demand was greatest in the year 2001 for the BMW 3 Series delivered to 534,255 customers worldwide (previous year 509.007 units), followed by 194,321 5 Series (previous year 191.546 units). Sales of the BMW X 5 were also extremely positive, more than doubling to 82,705 units following deliveries of 38,282 units in the previous year. The same year, while Daimler-Benz was sewing up its $40.5 billion transatlantic merger with Chrysler, BMW and Volkswagen were locked in combat in Europe.

Both were determined to win possession of British trophy Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, which had been put on the block by its owner, the Vickers engineering group. BMW had an inside track, as it already supplied engines and other parts for the new Rolls models and had a longstanding aero-engines joint venture with Rolls-Royce PLC, which owned the rights to the prestigious brand name. At the end of March, Vickers board formally accepted a $570 million offer from BMW. But a month later they changed their mind when VW put $720 million on the table, notwithstanding BMWs threat to cut off engine supplies if it lost. On June 5th Vickers shareholders voted to confirm the choice, brushing aside pleas to prevent this icon of U.K. motoring tradition from slipping into German hands. In early July the final price was adjusted upward to $795 million, based on the latest figure for R-Rs net operating assets.

As an extra inducement, VW also bought Vickers Cosworth engines unit for another $190 million. But then on July 28th came the stunning announcement that Rolls-Royce, the aero-engines group, had sold the coveted Rolls brand to its friends at BMW for a modest $65 million. This forced Volkswagen to seek a compromise, under which BMW granted it a license to use the trademark until 2003, at which point BMW will take over the distribution of all R-R cars, leaving VW with the company's venerable plant at Crewe and its secondary Bentley brand. BMW meanwhile will build a new factory somewhere in England in order to turn out a new offering of Rolls-Royce models starting in the middle of the next decade. BMW is competing with the worlds major car producers. We can see that company's positions in this battle are quite strong.

The continued appeal and popularity of the BMW 3 Series was confirmed in 2001 by a 4.5% increase in deliveries to approximately 534,000 units. The number of BMW 5 Series sold was up by 0.5% to 194,000 units, despite the fact that it is now in its sixth year of production. 82,650 BMW X 5 were delivered to customers, more than double the volume sold in the previous year. In the period between its launch in November and the year end, some 3,000 new BMW 7 Series cars were delivered to customers. 29,800 vehicles of the predecessor model were delivered before production ended.

The super sports car BMW Z 8 achieved a sales volume of 2,200 units. Sales volumes in the first two months of the new fiscal year confirm the positive trend. By the end of February, some 152,000 vehicles (+ 17.7%) had been sold, including 6,225 new BMW 7 Series cars. The sales volume of this model, which was launched in Germany in November 2001, is therefore well ahead of the sales of the predecessor model for the equivalent period. A total of 14,200 MINI brand cars had been sold worldwide by the end of February 2002. Since its launch (in Great Britain in July 2001), the total sales volume of the MINI has therefore reached 39,200 units.

As Prof. Milberg stated, Taking all of these factors into consideration, we have a chance of achieving a sales volume of over 1 million cars in 2002. The BMW Group will continue to expand its product range in the coming years as part of its product and market offensive. Work is progressing in accordance with plan on the new BMW 1 Series, on the next BMW 5 Series and on the BMW 6 Series. The same applies to the successor of the BMW Z 3, the new Rolls-Royce and the BMW X 3 Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV). The BMW Group was able to report last week that its profit from ordinary activities in 2001 had increased by euro 1,210 million (+ 59, 5%) to euro 3,242 million (2000: euro 2,032 million). All segments contributed to this improved performance.

Group revenue grew by 3.3% to euro 38,463 million. Net profit for the year increased to euro 1.866 million (+54.3%) for the year. The return on sales climbed to 8.4% (2000: 5.5%). The profit from ordinary activities of the BMW Automobiles segment improved by 2.2% to euro 2,792 million despite the high level of expenditure for the on-going product and market offensive. The BMW Motorcycles segment also surpassed its previous year's result and increased its profit from ordinary activities by 78.8% to euro 59 million. The profit from ordinary activities of the Financial Services segment increased to euro 390 million (+11.1%).

Earnings per share (in accordance with IAS 33) were euro 2.78 per share of common stock and euro 2.80 per share of preferred stock. In the previous year the equivalent figures had been euro 1.80 per share of common stock and euro 1.82 per share of preferred stock. At the Annual General Meeting, the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board will propose that the not appropriated profit of BMW AG of euro 350 million be used to pay a dividend of euro 0.52 per share of common stock (2000: euro 0.46) and euro 0.54 per share of preferred stock (2000: euro 0.48) on the share capital of the Company comprising euro 622.2 million common stock and euro 49.6 million preferred stock divided into shares with a nominal value of euro 1 each. This represents an increase in the dividend of 13% (common stock) and 12.5% (preferred stock).

In the words of Joachim Milberg, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG at the Annual Accounts press conference held in Munich on 19 March: The figures demonstrate that we are on the right course with our premium brand strategy. 2001 was the first full year after setting out on our new strategy. It was a year in which we were able to concentrate all our efforts on the unique strengths of the Group: the development, construction and sale of premium products. Prof. Milberg emphasized that the main strength of the BMW Group is its excellent workforce.

Approximately 5,000 new employees were taken on by the Group in 2001, including 4,000 new employees in Germany. Overall, the workforce increased to 97,275 employees. The BMW expects the positive trend to continue in 2002. The premium segments of the international markets will grow faster than the average. Dr. Helmut P anke, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Finance stated, We are confident that we will be able to report improvements in sales volumes, revenues and earnings for the year 2002. In BMW product-savvy top management has long held a deep respect for the brand and its heritage, but also takes a keen interest in planning and driving new products.

This is one of the reasons BMW maintains one of the strongest brands in the automotive business, while many others have wavered; become muddied or lost their way completely. It is also the actual story behind the new Z 8 roadster, whose genesis was indeed in a Board of Management get-together a few years ago. After extended time spent driving and contemplating the classics assembled for their review, the Board members themselves created a design brief: Develop a contemporary, class-leading BMW sports car for the millennium, while capturing the timeless panache of BMWs classic 507 roadster from the mid-1950's. The new vehicle would represent everything that the blue-and-white roundel means to car buyers worldwide. It was up to Henrik Fisker to translate the brief.

Fisker heads up Design works, We were told we could do a car with no sign of compromise, he says. It was an emotional decision from our Board. After experiencing the test ride, they wanted to understand the essence of those old cars, the sculpture, the feeling. And then they wanted us to capture it. I was so excited I worked nights and weekends. Recalling the excitement of it all, he grins, adding, I'd have done it for flee.

BMWs Board set a high standard, then let stylists and engineers run with the ball. We do not do show cars, stresses Fisker. When show a concept at an auto show, its close to reality. We began the Z 8 with just eight people, but everyone wanted to work on this project. We looked at classical forms; because we understood that beautiful shapes will stay beautiful forever.

BMW will sell every Z 8 it can make, but its a low volume car. Where is the rub-off? With its Boards encouragement, BMWs planners could reach far beyond the ordinary for the Z 8. Weve learned not to be satisfied next time we do a conventional car, Fisker says.

BMW may be struggling with its Rover purchase, but it had hit after hit with its own vehicles. That is because of direct input and support from the very top. But the aluminum space-flamed, 400-hp Z 8 is not a reprise of an old car. Fisker admits his team studied the 507 and even spoke with venerable Albrecht Graf von Goetz, its genius designer (who also did the Datsun 240 Z and Toyota 2000 GT). Then he put it out of his mind, though a few vital cues were utilized. One was the courageous abandonment of twin-kidney grilles, for the 507's signature horizontal grilles.

The 507's distinctive side gill vents were carried over, and Fiskers team also kept the 50 Ts classic long hood / short deck proportions, but with thoroughly modern interpretation. Within the BMW Boards brief was a quote from Oscar Wilde: Just the best and nothing else. All along, the Board members challenged the development group to stretch and to think emotionally, not conventionally. Are you going far enough? they would ask.

When a special frame was needed to permit a dramatic rear end like an E-Type Jaguars, Fiskers team included it. If they wanted expensive, but more effective neon lighting, it was no problem. Under fire from other luxury marques touting performance, BMW is adding to its brand equity by building a brand within the brand: M cars. Among European luxury brands, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Audi and Saab are all pushing performance more than ever as a key component to their marketing communication. There is no mistaking whose brand franchise they are gunning for: BMW, The Ultimate Driving Machine. Not waiting for the pack, the Bavarian car maker is upping the ante on what drivability entails, looking to establish a super performance brand within its already hefty equity with that position.

Call it Brand M. And BMW thinks its power is not just under the hood.