BMW History and Evalution of Cars, A brief introduction Posted by Stranger on 7:38 AM Digg it Bookmark it Stumble it Email to friend

BMW AG (an initialism for Bayerische Motoren-Werke Aktiengesellschaft, or in English, Bavarian Motor Works), is an independent German company and manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.

BMW is the parent company of the MINI and Rolls-Royce car brands, and formerly, Rover.
The company's tagline in English is currently "The Ultimate Driving Machine". The original German slogan is "Freude am Fahren", which translates to "Joy in Driving" in English. In certain regions, BMW also uses the English tagline "sheer driving pleasure" (e.g. Hong Kong).
BMW's main competitors include Alfa Romeo, Audi, Infiniti, Jaguar, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Saab and Volvo.

Production outside GermanyBMW started producing automobiles at its Spartanburg,South Carolina, plant in 1994. Today, the plant manufactures the BMW X5, the BMW Z4 Roadster and Coupe, and the BMW Z4 M Roadster and Coupe. Outside Germany, the largest output of the BMW Group comes from British factories.

The Hams Hall plant manufactures four cylinder BMW engines for use around the world in 3-Series, 1-Series and Z4 vehicles. This is in addition to MINIs and Rolls-Royces made in Oxford and Goodwood.

The Spartanburg, SC plant is open six days a week, producing automobilesapproximately 110 hours a week. It employs about 4,700 people and manufactures over 500 vehicles daily. Recently, the plant has undergone a major renovation switching from 2 production lines down to one. Now both the X5 and the Z4 are produced in the same line, one right after the other.After a period of local assembly, BMW's Rosslyn, South Africa, plant now manufactures cars, with over 70% of its output destined for export. In the mid-1990s, BMW invested R1bn to make Rosslyn a world-class facility. The plant now exports over 50,000 3 Series cars a year, mostly to the USA, Japan, Australia, Africa and the Middle East. Starting from October 2004, BMWs intended for the Chinese market are produced in Shenyang, China .BMW has established a joint venture with Chinese manufacturer Brilliance to build BMW3 Series and 5 Series that have been modified for the needs of local markets.

Starting in 2004, the X3 is manufactured in Graz, Austria with mainly German components.
The BMW Group is considering the establishment of a new plant which will be located either in Volos, Greece or Limasol, Cyprus.These plants will be manufacturing motorcycles as well as the BMW 1 Series and the BMW 3 Series and will be serving the markets of Eastern Europe and Middle East.The construction will start in 2009 even if it is finally built in Greece or in Cyprus.
BMW is also building a production plant in Chennai, India for production of 3-series and 5-series vehicles. The plant will begin production in 2007.