HIstory

Home | History | Automobiles | Motorcycle |

BMW has survived three major crisis that threatened the companies very existence. The Great War, World War II, and a takeover bid by Daimler Benz. Each of these events shaped the company, leaving scars of hard times, as well as strengthening the companies resolve to not only survive, but to become a world renowned marque brand.

BMW AG has two fathers: Karl Rapp and Gustav Otto, both of whom paved the way for further developments in their fields, leaving distinct traces during aviation's pioneering days. In the absence of Karl Rapp, Gustav Otto, Max Friz or Camillo Castiglioni the company would probably never have been born. However, Franz Josef Popp can lay claim to being the prime force in the development of the mobility company we know today. He was instrumental in the development of the company from 1916, and he was “General Director” of the company from its foundation as BMW AG until he was forced to relinquish his position in 1942.

Interestingly, Gustav Otto was the son of the wealthy Nikolaus August Otto, the inventor of the four-stroke internal combustion engine. Gustav was an aviator and one of the first flight pioneers in Bavaria. Along with a few others, Gustav flew machines made of wood, wire, canvas and powered by an engine. Through their passion for these flying machines, they helped transform aviation from a do-it-yourself hobby to a genuine industry vital to the military, especially after the breakout of World War I.
Gustav, in 1910, received the German aviation license no. 34, and, in the same year, set up a training school and a factory that came to be called Otto-Flugzeugwerke in 1913. The factory was located on Lerchenauer Strasse, east of the the Oberwiesenfeld troop maneuver area in the Milbertshofen district of Munich (this area later became Munich's first airport). He concentrated on building Farman inspired pushers (he had got his own license on an Aviatik-Farman), and soon became the main supplier for the Bayerische Fliegertruppen (Royal Bavarian Flying Corps). Both the Otto-Werke and his AGO Werke companies, which from 1914 developed different aircraft, were not successful in getting any orders from the Prussian military due to unexplained quality issues. The military urged Otto to revise his production line, but the issues were never resolved. Suffering financially, the Otto company purchased by a consortium, which included MAN AG as well as some banks, in February 1916. One month later, on this company’s premises the investors established a new business, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG. AGO closed down in 1918, the facilities being taken over by AEG.

Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH 1917

The departure of Karl Rapp enabled a fundamental restructuring of BMW GmbH, formerly Rapp Motorenwerke. While the development side was placed under Max Friz, Franz Josef Popp took over the post of Managing Director. Popp held this key position until his retirement in 1942, and was instrumental in shaping the future of BMW. The name-change to Bayerische Motoren Werke compelled management to devise a new logo for the company, therefore the famous BMW trademark is designed and patented at this time.[1] However, they remained true to the imagery of the previous Rapp Motorenwerke emblem (which was designed by Karl's brother, Ottmar Rapp). Thus, both the old and the new logo were built up in the same way: the company name was placed in a black circle, which was once again given a pictorial form by placing a symbol within it. The inner area of the Rapp logo was decorated with the head of a black horse – "Rappe" in German. By analogy with this, the blue and white panels of the Bavarian national flag were placed at the center of the BMW logo. Not until the late 1920s was the logo lent a new interpretation as representing a rotating propeller. The BMW Trademark, called a "roundel", was submitted for registration on the rolls of the Imperial Patent Office, and registered there with no. 221388 on 10 Dec 1917.[2] The trade mark was intended for the following goods: "Land, air and seagoing vehicles, automobiles, bicycles, accessories for automobiles and bicycles, vehicle components, stationary engines for solid, liquid and gaseous fuels and their components and accessories".
For the small BMW business, the large orders received from the Reichswehr for the BMW IIIa engine were overwhelming. Under Karl Rapp only a small number of engines had been produced and the manufacturing facilities were not in any way adequate to handle the mass production now required. Not only did BMW lack suitable machine tools but, to a very large degree, skilled manpower as well. However, the most serious drawback was in the small and aging workshops. Nevertheless, under the state-controlled war economy, officials in the relevant ministries were able to give BMW extensive practical support.[3] So in a short time BMW got the skilled workers and machinery it needed. In addition, the Munich company received a high level of financial assistance, which enabled it to build a completely new factory from the ground up, in the immediate vicinity of the old workshops. Due to the share capital being too small, both the building of the new plant and the working capital needed for materials and wages had to be financed with external funds, i.e. bank loans or state assistance. The war ministries of Bavaria and Prussia (then both separate kingdoms within the Kaiser’s empire) did not, however, wish to go on supporting BMW with loans and guarantees, and therefore urged the flotation of a public limited company.

BMW AG here to stay In May 1922 only the engine-building division and the BMW name were sold, not the whole company and its factory. The actual BMW company continued to be owned by Knorr-Bremse AG, but was no longer allowed to use the BMW name and had to be renamed Südbremse AG. As for the new headquarters for Bayerische Motoren Werke, Castiglioni had his eye on a firm in the immediate vicinity, an aircraft manufacturer called Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW).
This company had been part of Castiglioni’s business empire since the end of 1921. BMW was moved into the very same buildings of Gustav Otto's former Otto-Flugzeugwerke, and it is precisely here, on Lerchenauer Strasse 76, that BMW has maintained its roots ever since.[8] BFW was now renamed BMW and, with some 200 workers housed in old wooden sheds, it began production on a modest scale. Initially its output was BFW motorcycles, replacement engines and spare parts for aero-engines. To begin with, business for the “new” BMW AG did not go particularly well. The market for replacement engines was still as hotly contested in 1921 as it had been in 1919, when BMW had gone into brake manufacture as a way of securing its long-term future. In the light of these circumstances, the purchase of BMW by a skilled and experienced financier like Castiglioni appears incomprehensible. But in acquiring the BMW engine-building business, Castiglioni was not envisaging production in Germany at all; he had already clinched a different deal. Czechoslovakia was looking for suitable engines to equip its air force and was thinking, among others, of BMW products. Castiglioni had heard of the Czech military’s interest and had perhaps even encouraged it, as he was now in a position to offer BMW aero-engines to the Czechs. In fact, shortly after taking over BMW, Castiglioni managed to conclude an agreement with Prague for the BMW IIIa and BMW IV models to be manufactured under license. The substantial profits from this contract, which ran until the early 1930s, went solely into Castiglioni’s pocket. BMW made nothing at all out of it.

Automobiles
BMW’s automobile history had begun much earlier than 1924, if only in the form of proposals and prototypes. Correspondence dating back to 1918 shows the first use of the term “automobile” in BMW history. But no details, let alone images have come down to us regarding this fourwheeled primogenitor. Subsequently, BMW manufactured various built-in motors with four and two cylinders that powered a wide variety of agricultural vehicles in the early 1920s. The spectrum of machinery driven across the land by BMW units ranged from single-track cars to huge farm tractors. Around 1925 two specially hired BMW designers, Max Friz and Gotthilf Dürrwächter, both former employees of Daimler-Benz in Stuttgart, were commissioned by BMW’s Managing Director Franz Josef Popp to design a BMW production car. From this first, demonstrably operational BMW car – though as yet lacking any bodywork, BMW laid the groundwork for one of the worlds most respected manufacturer of automobiles.
Success for BMW in this industry came from an already proven source-the Seven. In 1927 the tiny Dixi, an Austin Seven produced under license, began production in Eisenach. BMW bought the Dixi Company the following year, and this became the company's first car, the BMW 3/15. By 1933 BMW was producing cars that could be called truly theirs, offering steadily more advanced I6 sports and saloons (sedans). The pre-war cars culminated in the 327 coupé and convertible, the 328 roadster, fast 2.0 L cars, both very advanced for their time, as well as the upscale 335 luxury sedan.

Redesign controversy
In the early 2000s, BMW undertook another of its periodic cycles of redoing the design language of its various series of vehicles, under the auspices of newly promoted design chief Christopher Bangle. These controversial designs often featured unconventional proportions with complex concave and convex curved surfaces combined with (sometimes arbitrary-appearing) sharp panel creases and slashes, a design cue called "flame surfacing". Much of the new language did not rest well with BMW enthusiasts or the automotive press which referred to the new designs as "Bangled" or "Bangle-ised". Bangle, commonly mistakenly accused to have penned all of the designs himself, only chose which design was to be used. As Bangle has now been promoted within the company to the BMW Group Head of Design, leaving him in charge of not only BMW but also Rolls-Royce and Mini, some questioned what long term effect the disaffection of BMW traditionalists for these designs will have on sales, and on the company's future. Sales at BMW have increased every year since some of his most debated designs have gone into production.
Many aspects of the "controversial" designs are now beginning to surface in other auto manufacturer's designs, most notably Toyota and Honda. Though the Bangle-butt design debuted and was popularized by BMW's 7-Series, Hyundai incorporated this design cue in 1999, three years before the 7-Series was released, and Maybach incorporated it since its first showing in 1997.
What is not as well known, however, is that Bangle was also responsible for many 'conservative' BMW designs and has worked at BMW for almost a decade. The first X5 sketches (which closely resembled the production car), were designed by him, and under his tenure the E46 3 Series came to be. Despite much of the scorn heaped on Chris Bangle, his design selections were approved by the entire executive board of BMW AG, including the majority owners, the Quandt family. BMW's design team has won numerous awards with him at he helm.

Return to Top