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91-646: BMW cars have been officially sold in the United States since 1956 and manufactured in the United States since 1994. The first BMW dealership in the United States opened in 1975. In 2016, BMW was the twelfth highest selling brand in the United States. The North American headquarters for BMW is located at 300 Chestnut Ridge Road, Woodcliff Lake , Bergen County , New Jersey . As of 2019 the BMW Spartanburg manufacturing plant in Greer , South Carolina , had

182-581: A pickup truck , a van and the Mini Moke —a jeep -like buggy. The Mini Cooper and Cooper "S" were sportier versions that were successful as rally cars , winning the Monte Carlo Rally four times from 1964 through to 1967, although in 1966 the Mini was disqualified after the finish, along with six other British entrants, which included the first four cars to finish, under a questionable ruling that

273-469: A "Clubdoor" on the right-hand side regardless of the intended market. This means that in right-hand drive markets, the rear door is on the road side of the car, requiring rear passengers to exit into the road. Engine and transmission selections are identical to those used in the Hatch/Hardtop model, except the 66 kW (90 PS; 89 hp) One Diesel; and the rear suspension set-up shares many of

364-565: A 2011 model-year vehicle. The Countryman has a longer wheelbase, more interior room, and higher ground clearance than the Clubman. It uses the same engines as the Hatch/Clubman range, but with an optional all-wheel-drive powertrain (dubbed "ALL4") to allow minimal off-road and rugged terrain driving. A six-speed manual transmission is standard on all models, with automatic transmission available on all petrol and diesel models except

455-453: A BMW 7 Series (G11) special edition simply called "The Final V12", the last BMW series production vehicle to be fitted with a V-12 engine. On 5 October 2023 it was announced that BMW UK CEO Chris Brownridge would succeed Torsten Müller-Ötvös as the CEO of Rolls-Royce starting 1 December 2023, as a result of Müller-Ötvös retiring. BMW is an abbreviation for Bayerische Motoren Werke . This name

546-543: A built-in balance shaft, an increased capacity to 1,170 cc (71 cu in) and enhanced performance to 75 kW (101 hp) for the R1200GS , compared to 63 kW (84 hp) of the previous R1150GS . More powerful variants of the oilhead engines are available in the R1100S and R1200S, producing 73 and 91 kW (98 and 122 hp), respectively. In 2004, BMW introduced the new K1200S Sports Bike which marked

637-515: A correspondingly stretched wheelbase that is 80 mm (3.1 in) longer; this provides more rear-seat leg room and substantially increased cargo space when compared to the Hardtop—160 ;mm (6.3 in) longer, giving 260 litres (9.2 cubic feet) of space. It has twin "barn doors," alternately referred to as "the Splitdoor," enclosing the boot instead of a pull-up hatch, and also features

728-468: A cost-saving measure. Production at the Cowley plant was ended, and the simple name "Mini" completely replaced the separate Austin and Morris brands. The Mark IV, launched in 1976, introduced a front rubber mounted subframe with single tower bolts and larger bushes in the rear frame. In addition twin stalk indicators were introduced with larger foot pedals, and from 1977 onwards the rear indicator lamps had

819-498: A departure for BMW. It had an engine producing 125 kW (168 hp), derived from the company's work with the Williams F1 team, and is lighter than previous K models. Innovations include electronically adjustable front and rear suspension, and a Hossack-type front fork that BMW calls Duolever. BMW introduced anti-lock brakes on production motorcycles starting in the late 1980s. The generation of anti-lock brakes available on

910-652: A generation of car-makers. The vehicle is in some ways considered the British equivalent to its German contemporary, the Volkswagen Beetle , which enjoyed similar popularity in North America. In 1999 the Mini was voted the second most influential car of the 20th Century , behind the Ford Model T . This distinctive two-door car was designed for BMC by Sir Alec Issigonis . It was manufactured at

1001-654: A more realistic attempt to create a modern Mini, and coincided with BMW's official creation of the Mini project. Although the two-door and four-door pair wore Mini badges, both vehicles remained purely concepts. In 1998, BMW set out on creating the production Mini. The first aspect that was considered was the design, which was chosen from 15 full-sized design studies. Five of these designs came from BMW Germany, another five from BMW Designworks in California, four from Rover and one from an outside studio in Italy. The chosen design

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1092-712: A new 2.0 L diesel for the automatic Cooper and high performance Cooper SD. The Convertible and Clubman versions followed later. In 2009, the Mini First trim level was launched in the UK, which is a low-end, petrol-only version, with less power and a lower speed. The Mini John Cooper Works Challenge is a purpose-built race car, based on the Mini Hatch, and manufactured in the BMW Motorsport factory located in Munich. It

1183-657: A new generation of electric cars. Launched in August 1959, the Mark 1 Mini (code name ADO 15) was initially marketed as the Austin Seven and Morris Mini-Minor. Mark I Minis can be identified by exterior door hinges, sliding door glass, tail lights smaller than later cars and a "mustache" grille. The A-series engine came in a wide range of capacities, initially as an 848 cc, but later the 997, 998, 1071 and 1275 cc engines were added. The non-Cooper cars had gearboxes with

1274-726: A number of awards in the visual arts. These include the BMW Art Journey award, which honors a young or mid-career artist in collaboration with Art Basel , and the BMW Painting Award, which was created to promote painting in Spain by finding new talent and showcasing their work. Mini (marque) Mini (stylised as MINI ) is a British automotive brand founded in Oxford in 1969, owned by German multinational automotive company BMW since 2000, and used by them for

1365-529: A range of small cars assembled in the United Kingdom, Austria, Netherlands (until 16 February 2024) and Germany. The word Mini has been used in car model names since 1959, and in 1969 it became a brand in its own right when the name "Mini" replaced the separate "Austin Mini" and "Morris Mini" car model names. BMW acquired the brand in 1994 when it bought Rover Group (formerly British Leyland ), which owned Mini, among other brands. The original Mini

1456-550: A series of compact car concept vehicles from the company during the early 1990s. The first were the E1 and Z13, powered by an electric motor and a rear-mounted 1100 cc BMW motorcycle engine, respectively. In early 1994, BMW acquired the Rover Group from British Aerospace, which owned Mini, among other brands. BMW insisted that even a compact model must feature traditional BMW characteristics (such as rear wheel drive ) to uphold

1547-508: A small car—and can be opened partially to act as a sunroof whilst the car is driving at speed. The convertible model forsakes the rear hatchback of the Hardtop Mini, replacing it with a drop down 'tailgate' that is reminiscent of the classic Mini—it incorporates similarly prominent external hinges, and with the roof in the closed position, the rear roof section and luggage shelf can be raised with two handles, semi-tailgate style, to access

1638-532: A top speed of 215 km/h (134 mph) and accelerates from 0 to 100 kilometres per hour (0 to 62 mph) in 7.9 seconds. The engine provides 168 hp (125 kW) and 220 N⋅m (160 lbf⋅ft) of torque. Mini introduced an all-new second generation of the Hardtop/Hatch model in November 2006, on a re-engineered platform incorporating many stylistic and engineering changes. It utilises

1729-447: Is a futuristic cauldron-shaped building, which was also designed by Karl Schwanzer and opened in 1972. The interior has a spiral theme and the roof is a 40-metre diameter BMW logo. BMW Welt , the company's exhibition space in Munich, was designed by Coop Himmelb(l)au and opened in 2007. It includes a showroom and lifting platforms where a customer's new car is theatrically unveiled to the customer. In 1975, sculptor Alexander Calder

1820-778: Is assembled at both plants, with the 5-door being exclusively assembled at Oxford. The Paceman was until 2016 assembled by Magna Steyr in Austria. A total of 301,526 Mini vehicles were sold worldwide in 2012. The third generation of the Mini Countryman is produced in Germany at BMW's Leipzig plant . Mini vehicles have been active in rallying and the Mini Cooper S won the Monte Carlo Rally on three occasions, in 1964, 1965 and 1967. Mini has participated in

1911-689: Is grammatically incorrect (in German, compound words must not contain spaces), which is why the grammatically correct form of the name, Bayerische Motorenwerke ( German pronunciation: [ˈbaɪʁɪʃə moˈtoːʁənˌvɛʁkə] ) has been used in several publications and advertisements in the past. Bayerische Motorenwerke translates into English as Bavarian Motor Works . The suffix AG, short for Aktiengesellschaft , signifies an incorporated entity owned by shareholders, thus akin to "Inc." (US) or PLC, "Public Limited Company" (UK). The terms Beemer, Bimmer and Bee-em are sometimes used as slang for BMW in

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2002-553: Is located in Columbus, Ohio and is responsible for the captive lending for BMW automotive, BMW Motorsport, and Rolls-Royce cars, when buyers lease the vehicles or decide to finance directly with the company. 34°53′35″N 82°10′44″W  /  34.89306°N 82.17889°W  / 34.89306; -82.17889 The BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC , also known as BMW Spartanburg , is the BMW Group 's only assembly facility in

2093-412: Is now known as BMW Motorrad . Their first successful motorcycle after the failed Helios and Flink, was the " R32 " in 1923, though production originally began in 1921. This had a " boxer " twin engine, in which a cylinder projects into the air-flow from each side of the machine. Apart from their single-cylinder models (basically to the same pattern), all their motorcycles used this distinctive layout until

2184-464: Is part of the company's global five-plant production network. In 2014, the automaker announced an additional $ 1 billion investment in the facility that will make Spartanburg, South Carolina, BMW's largest U.S. factory, with an annual capacity of 480,000 units when including the X7. There were 411,171 vehicles produced in 2016, of which 70% were exported to 140 countries. The plant is the largest BMW plant in

2275-654: Is powered by a turbocharged 208 hp (155 kW) 1,598 cc four-cylinder. The Mini Roadster was first shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2009 and is the convertible version of the Mini Coupe. The Roadster is available in three trim levels: Cooper, Cooper S, and John Cooper Works . The Mini Paceman three-door crossover version of the Countryman debuted as a concept car at

2366-677: The BMW R 32 , in 1923. BMW became an automobile manufacturer in 1928 when it purchased Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach, which, at the time, built the Austin 7 under licence from Dixi . The first car sold as a BMW was a rebadged BMW Dixi called the BMW 3/15 , following BMW's acquisition of the car manufacturer Automobilwerk Eisenach. Throughout the 1930s, BMW expanded its range into sports cars and larger luxury cars. Aircraft engines, motorcycles, and automobiles would be BMW's main products until World War II. During

2457-591: The 225xe using a 1.5 L three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine with an electric motor, the 330e / 530e using a 2.0 L four-cylinder engine with an electric motor, and the 550e / 750e using a 3.0 L six-cylinder engine with an electric motor. Also, crossover and SUV plug-in hybrid models have been released using i technology: X1 xDrive25e , X2 xDrive25e , X3 xDrive30e , and X5 xDrive40e . The BMW M GmbH subsidiary (called BMW Motorsport GmbH until 1993) started making high-performance versions of various BMW models in 1978. As of November 2024 ,

2548-624: The BMW M3 in 1986. Also in 1986, BMW introduced its first V12 engine in the 750i luxury sedan. The 1989 BMW Z1 marked BMW's return to making a two-seat roadster, the 1995 BMW Z3 was their first mass-production two-seat roadster, and the 1999 BMW X5 was the company's first entry into the SUV market. The company purchased the Rover Group in 1994, but the takeover was not successful and caused BMW large financial losses. In 2000, BMW sold off most of

2639-414: The Countryman , Moke , 1275GT and Clubman . Performance versions of these models used the name Cooper , due to a partnership with racing legend John Cooper . The original Mini continued in production until 2000. In 1994, Rover Group was acquired by BMW, being broken up in 2000 with BMW retaining the Mini brand. Development of a modern successor to the Mini began in 1995 and an entirely new Mini model

2730-481: The K Series , shaft drive but water-cooled and with either three or four cylinders mounted in a straight line from front to back. Shortly after, BMW also started making the chain-driven F and G series with single and parallel twin Rotax engines. In the early 1990s, BMW updated the airhead Boxer engine which became known as the oilhead . In 2002, the oilhead engine had two spark plugs per cylinder. In 2004 it added

2821-610: The Kingdom of Bavaria , which was a state of the German Empire . The firm was reorganized on 7 March 1916 into Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG . This company was then renamed to Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) in 1922. However, the name BMW dates back to 1913, when a company to use the name was founded by Karl Rapp initially as Rapp Motorenwerke . The name and Rapp Motorenwerke 's engine-production assets were transferred to Bayerische Flugzeugwerke in 1922, who adopted

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2912-774: The Longbridge and Cowley plants in England, the Victoria Park / Zetland British Motor Corporation (Australia) factory in Sydney , Australia, and later also in Spain ( Authi ), Belgium, Chile, Italy ( Innocenti ), Portugal, South Africa, Uruguay, Venezuela and Yugoslavia. The Mini Mark I had three major UK updates: the Mark II, the Clubman and the Mark III. Within these was a series of variations including an estate car ,

3003-656: The North American International Auto Show in January 2011, BMW announced that it would be extending the Mini range with the launch of two new two-door sports crossover vehicles based on the Mini Paceman concept car, with a coupe version planned to enter production in 2011 and a roadster to follow in 2012. In June 2011, BMW announced an investment of £500 million in the UK over the subsequent three years as part of an expansion of

3094-604: The Prince engine , the architecture of which is shared with PSA Peugeot Citroën and is designed to be more cost-effective and fuel-efficient, and is manufactured at the BMW Hams Hall engine plant in Warwickshire, United Kingdom. The development and engineering was done in Munich, Germany at BMW Group headquarters, and by external third parties. Although the new model looks very similar to its predecessor, every panel

3185-644: The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ’s Madrid Yearly Review ranked BMW's number of marks applications filled under the Madrid System as 2nd in the world, with 124 trademarks applications submitted during 2023. The key trends of the BMW Group are (as at the financial year ending December 31): BMW began production of motorcycle engines and then motorcycles after World War I. Its motorcycle brand

3276-624: The World Rally Championship since 2011 through the Prodrive WRC Team . The original two-door Mini was a small car produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors from 1959 until 2000. It is considered an icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout (which allowed 80% of the area of the car's floorpan to be used for passengers and luggage) influenced

3367-448: The X Series SUVs and crossovers are: The current model line of the Z Series two-door roadsters is the Z4 (model code G29 ). All-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles are sold under the BMW i sub-brand. The current model range consists of: In addition, several plug-in hybrid models built on existing platforms have been marketed as iPerformance models. Examples include

3458-567: The "magic wand" selector, with 4-speeds (no synchromesh on 1st) while the Coopers has a remote shift selector. An automatic, 4-speed transmission was introduced in 1965. In 1960, a 2-seater van was launched, along with an estate, both sharing a longer wheelbase In 1961 the pickup was introduced, also based on the longer wheelbase The Mini received some minor modifications in 1967 as sold as the Austin or Morris Mini in most markets. The Mark III Mini

3549-468: The 1960s, BMW expanded its range by adding coupé and luxury sedan models. The BMW 5 Series mid-size sedan range was introduced in 1972, followed by the BMW 3 Series compact sedans in 1975, the BMW 6 Series luxury coupés in 1976 and the BMW 7 Series large luxury sedans in 1978. The BMW M division released its first road car, a mid-engine supercar, in 1978. This was followed by the BMW M5 in 1984 and

3640-443: The 2006 and later BMW motorcycles paved the way for the introduction of electronic stability control , or anti-skid technology later in the 2007 model year. BMW has been an innovator in motorcycle suspension design, taking up telescopic front suspension long before most other manufacturers. Then they switched to an Earles fork , front suspension by swinging fork (1955 to 1969). Most modern BMWs are truly rear swingarm, single sided at

3731-486: The 2011 Detroit Auto Show. On 5 July 2012, senior vice president of Mini brand management, Dr. Kay Segler, announced that, "the Mini Paceman is the official name of the brand's seventh model, which will be launched next year (2013) in the U.S." The production version was launched at the 2012 Paris Motor Show , with sales starting in most international markets by the second quarter of 2013. The third generation Mini

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3822-611: The 90 bhp One D. Mini revealed the Coupé in June 2011. It is the first two-seat Mini and the first to have a three-box design; the engine compartment, the passenger compartment and the luggage compartments are all separated. It will also be the fastest production Mini ever: in John Cooper Works trim, it does 0 to 62 mph (0 to 100 km/h) in 6.4 seconds and goes on to a top speed of 149 mph (240 km/h) as it

3913-681: The Charleston port. Some air freight is also used. There are several models which have been solely sold in the United States: Several BMW engines have not been officially sold in the United States, due to emissions regulations. These include: BMW The companies automobiles are marketed under the BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brands, and motorcycles are marketed under the BMW Motorrad brand. Also in 2023, BMW

4004-463: The English language and are sometimes used interchangeably for cars and motorcycles. The circular blue and white BMW logo or roundel evolved from the circular Rapp Motorenwerke company logo, which featured a black ring bearing the company name surrounding the company logo, an image of a horse head on a plinth. BMW retained Rapp's black ring inscribed with the company name, but the interior of

4095-502: The Greer plant. This expansion will allow production of 240,000 vehicles a year and will make the plant the largest car factory in the United States by number of employees. BMW's largest single market is the United States, where 339 dealerships sold 346,023 cars in 2015. The two millionth vehicle built at BMWUSM rolled off the plant in January 2012. It is a vermilion red metallic X3 xDrive35i with Oyster Nevada interior and an M Sport Package,

4186-541: The M lineup is: The letter "M" is also often used in the marketing of BMW's regular models, for example the F20 M140i model, the G11 M760Li model and various optional extras called "M Sport", "M Performance" or similar. BMW has a long history of motorsport activities, including: The global BMW Headquarters in Munich represents the cylinder head of a 4-cylinder engine . It was designed by Karl Schwanzer and

4277-556: The Mini One D used a Toyota -built 1ND-TV diesel engine. In August 2006, BMW announced that future engines would be built in the UK, making the car essentially British-built again; final assembly took place at Oxford , and the body pressings were made in nearby Swindon at BMW's Swindon Pressings Ltd subsidiary. The last Mk I variant was the Mini Cooper S with John Cooper Works GP Kit: a light-weight, quasi-race-prepped John Cooper Works model. Hand-finished by Bertone in Italy, it

4368-552: The Mini range to seven models. In July 2017, BMW has announced that an electric Mini model will be built at the Cowley plant, in Oxford, that will start production in 2019. It will also be produced in China. On 1 April 2019, BMW named Bernd Körber as director of the Mini brand and replaced Peter Schwarzenbauer. In Sep 2023, BMW announced plans to invest hundreds of millions of pounds to prepare its Mini factory near Oxford to build

4459-461: The Mini. John Cooper also created a one-off racing model of the Mini Cooper S named the Mini Cooper S Works. This car featured many extras which help to improve performance, such as a racing exhaust and air filter as well as uprated suspension. The car also had one-of-a-kind 17-inch (430 mm) racing wheels. The Mk I Mini One, Cooper and Cooper S used some version of the reliable, Brazilian-built Tritec engine , co-developed by Chrysler & BMW;

4550-477: The Netherlands (ceased in 2023), the United States, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, India and China. The Quandt family  [ de ] is a long-term shareholder of the company, following investments by the brothers Herbert and Harald Quandt in 1959 that saved BMW from bankruptcy , with the remaining shares owned by the public . The Otto Flugmaschinenfabrik was founded in 1910 by Gustav Otto in

4641-401: The Rover brands, retaining only the Mini brand. In 1998, BMW also acquired the rights to the Rolls-Royce brand from Vickers . The first modern mass-produced turbocharged petrol engine was introduced in 2006 (from 1973 to 1975, BMW built 1,672 units of a turbocharged BMW M10 engine for the BMW 02 Series ), with most engines switching over to turbocharging over the 2010s. The first hybrid BMW

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4732-585: The United States, and is located in Greer, South Carolina . The plant is currently BMW's major global production site for the X3, X4, X5, X6, X7, and XM crossover SUVs, whose biggest market is the U.S., while other BMW models sold in the U.S. market are imported. In 1992, BMW announced that it would build a 1,150-acre (470 ha) manufacturing facility in Spartanburg County , South Carolina , United States to strengthen its international production system. The plant opened in 1994. In 2010, BMW announced that it would spend $ 750 million to expand operations at

4823-455: The back (compare with the regular swinging fork usually, and wrongly, called swinging arm ). Some BMWs started using yet another trademark front suspension design, the Telelever, in the early 1990s. Like the Earles fork, the Telelever significantly reduces dive under braking. BMW Group, on 31 January 2013, announced that Pierer Industrie AG has bought Husqvarna Motorcycles for an undisclosed amount, which will not be revealed by either party in

4914-437: The black outline encircling the rondel. The logo is used for BMW's branding communications but it is not used on vehicles. The slogan 'The Ultimate Driving Machine' was first used in North America in 1974. In 2010, this long-lived campaign was mostly supplanted by a campaign intended to make the brand more approachable and to better appeal to women, 'Joy'. By 2012 BMW had returned to 'The Ultimate Driving Machine'. In 2023,

5005-420: The cars had used an illegal combination of headlamps and spotlights. Initially Minis were marketed under the Austin and Morris names, as the Austin Seven and Morris Mini-Minor, until Mini became a marque in its own right in 1969. The Mini was again marketed under the Austin name in the 1980s. In the 1990s, BMW was seeking to broaden its model range through the addition of compact cars and SUVs. This sparked

5096-677: The company was nearly taken over by rival Daimler-Benz. A large investment in BMW by Herbert Quandt and Harald Quandt resulted in the company surviving as a separate entity. Günther Quandt , was a well-known German industrialist, joined the Nazi party in 1933 and made a fortune arming the German Wehrmacht, manufacturing weapons and batteries. Many of his enterprises were appropriated from Jewish owners under duress with minimal compensation. At least three of his enterprises made extensive use of slave laborers, as many as 50,000 in all. One of his battery factories had its own on-site concentration camp, complete with gallows. Life expectancy for laborers

5187-406: The company's standards and image. The "MINI" brand, however, did not share these standards and BMW saw this as an opportunity to create a competitively priced, yet premium, compact car. This formed BMW's plan to launch the premium BMW 1 Series and the mid-range Mini. It was at around this time that Rover, too, was working on a successor to the original Mini. Its first concept was the ACV30 which

5278-421: The early 1980s. Many BMW's are still produced in this layout, which is designated the R Series . The entire BMW Motorcycle production has, since 1969, been located at the company's Berlin-Spandau factory. During the Second World War, BMW produced the BMW R75 motorcycle with a motor-driven sidecar attached, combined with a lockable differential , this made the vehicle very capable off-road. In 1982, came

5369-432: The future. The company is headed by Stephan Pierer (CEO of KTM). Pierer Industrie AG is 51% owner of KTM and 100% owner of Husqvarna. In September 2018, BMW unveiled a new self-driving motorcycle with BMW Motorrad with a goal of using the technology to help improve road safety. The design of the bike was inspired by the company's BMW R1200 GS model. The current model lines of BMW cars are: The current model lines of

5460-457: The head of the BMW Group. In January 2021, BMW announced that its sales in 2020 fell by 8.4 percent due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. However, in the fourth quarter of 2020, BMW witnessed a rise of 3.2% in its customers' demands. This recovery was supported by the company's adoption of widely accepted technologies and integration of third-party services such as Apply Pay and on-demand music. On 18 January 2022 BMW announced

5551-503: The highest production volume of the BMW plants worldwide, producing approximately 1,500 vehicles per day. The models produced at the Spartanburg plant are the X3 , X4 , X5 , X6 , X7 , and XM SUV models. In addition to the South Carolina manufacturing facility, BMW's North American companies include sales, marketing, design, and financial services operations in the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Latin America. The North American headquarters for its large financial services subsidiary

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5642-408: The launch of the new Mini, Stephenson told automotive magazine Autocar : We wanted the first impression when you walk up to the car to be "it could only be a Mini" The last Mark VII Mini, and the 5,387,862nd and final original two-door Mini to be produced, a red Cooper Sport, was built at the Longbridge plant in October 2000. The car was driven off the production line by the pop singer Lulu , and

5733-404: The logo is based on the image of an airplane propeller spinning in a blue sky. This myth likely stems from a 1929 BMW advertisement that depicted the logo superimposed on a rotating propeller. However, the logo predates that advertisement by 12 years. The current iteration of the logo was introduced in 2020, removing 3D effects that had been used in previous renderings of the logo while removing

5824-445: The luggage space easier. The convertible also adds two small power windows for the rear seat passengers which are lowered automatically when the roof opens. The roof is made from a heavy cloth, with many layers of insulation; the rear window is glass with an integral heater/defroster, but no washer or wiper. At the 2007 North American International Auto Show , Mini introduced the limited edition Mini Cooper S Sidewalk Convertible. It had

5915-420: The name the same year. BMW's first product was produced for fighter aircraft of the Luftstreitkräfte . It was a straight-six aircraft engine called the BMW IIIa , designed in the spring of 1917 by engineer Max Friz . Following the end of World War I, BMW remained in business by producing motorcycle engines, agricultural equipment, household items, and railway brakes. The company produced its first motorcycle,

6006-418: The new generation Mini, introduced in 2001, and was back then known as simply Mini . It was available in Cooper, Cooper S and One variations at launch. In many European markets, the Mini One was powered by a 1.4-litre I4 version of the Tritec engine but all other petrol powered Minis used the 1.6-litre I4 version. The Cooper S and JCW models included a supercharger intake system. This generation of minis

6097-565: The reverse lights incorporated in them. The Mark V, launched in 1984, introduced 8.4-inch (210 mm) brake discs and plastic wheel arches (mini special arches) but retained the same Mark IV body shell shape. For the Mark VI, launched in 1990, the engine mounting points were moved forward to take 1,275 cc power units, and includes the HIF carburettor version, plus the single point fuel injected car which came out in 1991. The 998 cc power units were discontinued. Internal bonnet release were fitted from 1992. The Mark VII, launched in 1996,

6188-421: The rights to use those names. The second generation Mini Convertible was unveiled at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show and the 2009 Geneva International Motor Show as a 2009 model-year vehicle (first available for sale on 28 March 2009 ). A device, marketed as the "Openometer", records the number of minutes the vehicle has operated with its roof retracted. Available variants and corresponding powertrain selections are

6279-440: The ring is quartered blue and white, reminiscent of the coat of arms and flag of Bavaria (which in turn are based on the arms of the historic House of Wittelsbach , which ruled Bavaria for many centuries). The logo does not bear the distinctive lozenge shape found on the coat of arms, however, as local laws at the time it was introduced forbade the use of state coats of arms on commercial logos. A persistent myth claims that

6370-507: The same as in the Mini Hatch range, including the diesel engine in some markets. The Mini Countryman was announced in January 2010, and formally launched at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show . It is the first Mini crossover SUV , and the first five-door model to be launched in the BMW-era. It is offered with a choice of two- or four-wheel drive (known as ALL4), and with 1.6 L petrol or diesel and 2.0 L diesel four-cylinder engines in various states of tune. Sales started in September 2010 as

6461-444: The same designs features including the rear trailing arms and the anti-roll bars. The use of the name "Clubman" for the Mini estate van was a break with classic Mini tradition. "Clubman" was originally the name given to the 1970s face-lift of the classic Mini, which mostly resulted in a squared-off front end, whereas the classic Mini estates had traditionally been named "Traveller" or "Countryman". However, BMW did not initially purchase

6552-434: The war, BMW concentrated on the BMW 801 aircraft engine using as many as 40,000 slave laborers. These consisted primarily of prisoners from Nazi concentration camps , most prominently Dachau . Motorcycles remained as a side-line and automobile manufacture ceased altogether. BMW's factories were heavily bombed during the war and its remaining West German facilities were banned from producing motor vehicles or aircraft after

6643-486: The war. Again, the company survived by making pots, pans, and bicycles. In 1948, BMW restarted motorcycle production. BMW resumed car production in Bavaria in 1952 with the BMW 501 luxury saloon. The range of cars was expanded in 1955, through the production of the cheaper Isetta microcar under licence. Slow sales of luxury cars and small profit margins from microcars, meant BMW was in serious financial trouble and in 1959

6734-525: The world in terms of vehicle production volume. Another record was set in 2018, around 70% of production was exported to 125 markets. The biggest export market was China, accounting for one-third of all export. That same year, BMW ceased exporting the X3 to China. A nearby dry inland port , 200 miles (320 km) from the port of Charleston, handles many of the plant's needs for cargo and finished vehicles. In 2015, BMW Spartanburg sent 250,000 new cars by rail to

6825-547: Was a line of British small cars manufactured by the British Motor Corporation (BMC), which in 1966 became part of British Motor Holdings . This merged with Leyland Motors in 1968 to form British Leyland . In the 1980s, British Leyland was broken-up and in 1988 Rover Group, including Mini, was acquired by British Aerospace . Mini models included the Morris Mini-Minor and the Austin Seven,

6916-511: Was commissioned to paint the BMW 3.0 CSL racing car driven by Hervé Poulain at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which became the first in the series of BMW Art Cars. Since Calder's work of art, many other renowned artists throughout the world have created BMW Art Cars, including David Hockney , Jenny Holzer , Roy Lichtenstein , Robert Rauschenberg , Frank Stella , and Andy Warhol . To date, a total of 19 BMW Art Cars, based on both racing and regular production vehicles, have been created. BMW sponsors

7007-406: Was completed in 1972. The building has become a European icon and was declared a protected historic building in 1999. The main tower consists of four vertical cylinders standing next to and across from each other. Each cylinder is divided horizontally in its center by a mold in the facade. Notably, these cylinders do not stand on the ground; they are suspended on a central support tower. BMW Museum

7098-453: Was different and new safety requirements resulted in the overall length increasing by 60 mm (2.4 in). The second generation Mini was introduced in the Cooper and Cooper S trim levels; the range was added to in 2007 with the Mini One. For the first time, there was a diesel-powered Cooper, available from April 2007, and badged as the Cooper D, which was supplemented in January 2011 with

7189-480: Was driven by BMW Associate Terry Gardner, a 16-year BMW veteran, with accompanying associates Renita Williams, Trang Pham and Olga Yurchenko. These associates represent teams from each of the plant's manufacturing technologies: Body, Paint and Assembly. The vehicle was retained on display at the Spartanburg Plant to commemorate the milestone. The $ 2.2 billion plant, which employs 23,000 (BMW and contract),

7280-467: Was from BMW Designworks and was designed by American designer, Frank Stephenson . Stephenson penned the new Mini One R50 and Mini Cooper leading the team which developed the E50 car in Munich (parallel development in England by the team at Rover having been dropped in 1995). This design, being a city car , also fitted into BMW's plan of two compact cars, leaving the supermini class for the BMW 1 Series. After

7371-559: Was launched in 1969, which was an updated version of Mark II with a modified bodyshell. The most visible changes were larger doors with concealed hinges. The boot lid lost the original hinged number plate and its recess shape and a large rear colour-coded lamp was fitted in its place, along with larger rear side windows. Sliding windows were replaced with winding windows—although some Australian-manufactured Mark I Minis had adopted this feature in 1965 (with opening quarterlight windows). The suspension reverted from Hydrolastic to rubber cones. as

7462-612: Was launched in 2001 by BMW. The current Mini range includes the Hardtop/Hatch/Convertible (three-door hatchback) and Countryman (five-door crossover ). The Mini Clubman, Coupe and Roadster are assembled at BMW's Plant Oxford in Cowley , England. The Mini Convertible and the second generation of the Countryman were assembled at VDL Nedcar in Born (Netherlands) till 16 February 2024. The Mini 3-door Hatch/Hardtop

7553-477: Was offered as a limited-production run of 2,000 cars during the 2006 model year, with 444 of those originally intended for the UK market (although ultimately, 459 were sold). At the 2004 Salon International de l'Auto , Mini introduced a convertible model which was released in the 2005 model year and available in One, Cooper and Cooper S trim versions. The convertible roof is fully automatic—an unusual feature in such

7644-622: Was six months. While Quandt and BMW were not directly connected during the war, funds amassed in the Nazi era by his father allowed Herbert Quandt to buy BMW. The relative success of the small BMW 700 assisted in the company's recovery, allowing them to develop the New Class sedans. The 1962 introduction of the BMW New Class compact sedans was the beginning of BMW's reputation as a leading manufacturer of sport-oriented cars. Throughout

7735-683: Was subsequently housed at the Heritage Motor Centre in Gaydon, alongside the first Mini Mark I ever made. The new generation Mini Hatch/Hardtop went on sale in July 2001 and was an immediate sales success. In February 2005, BMW announced an investment of £100 million in the Mini plant in Oxford, United Kingdom, creating 200 new jobs and enabling production output to be increased by 20%. In April 2013, Peter Schwarzenbauer became new Mini's managing director, succeeding Jochen Goller. At

7826-560: Was the 2010 BMW ActiveHybrid 7 , and BMW's first mass-production electric car was the BMW i3 city car, which was released in 2013, (from 1968 to 1972, BMW built two battery-electric BMW 1602 Elektro saloons for the 1972 Olympic Games). After many years of establishing a reputation for sporting rear-wheel drive cars, BMW's first front-wheel drive car was the 2014 BMW 2 Series Active Tourer multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) . In March 2018, Daimler and BMW merged their mobility services. In August 2019, Oliver Zipse replaced Harald Krüger as

7917-402: Was the final version of the original two-door Mini. For this model twin point injection with front-mounted radiator was introduced, along with a full-width dashboard and driver's side airbag. All Mini models since 2001 have different variants, including One (entry-level), Cooper , Cooper S (sporty), and John Cooper Works (JCW) (high-end). The hatchback/hardtop Mini was the first model of

8008-495: Was the only production model to have one, replaced by a turbocharger from the second generation onwards. The names Cooper and Cooper S followed the names used for the sportier version of the classic Mini, which in turn come from the involvement of John Cooper and the Cooper Car Company. The Cooper heritage was further emphasised with the John Cooper Works (JCW) range of tuning options that are available with

8099-583: Was the world's ninth-largest producer of motor vehicles , with 2,555,341 vehicles produced and in 2023 the 6th largest by revenue. In 2023, the company was ranked 46th in the Forbes Global 2000 . The company has significant motor-sport history, especially in touring cars , sports cars , and the Isle of Man TT . BMW is headquartered in Munich and produces motor vehicles in Germany, the United Kingdom,

8190-441: Was unveiled at the 1997 Monte Carlo Rally . The name was partially an acronym of Anniversary Concept Vehicle , whilst the '30' represented the 30 years that had passed since a Mini first won the Monte Carlo Rally. The vehicle itself was a two-door coupe powered by a rear-mounted MG F engine. Just months later, Rover released another concept, this time, a pair of vehicles called Spiritual and Spiritual Too . These vehicles were

8281-617: Was unveiled in 2007 at the IAA Motor Show. In 2009 a John Cooper Works World Championship 50 special edition was unveiled in 2009 Mini United Festival in Silverstone. The Mini Clubman is an estate Mini, introduced for the 2008 model year and available in One, Cooper, Cooper S, and Cooper D variations. While identical to the Hatch/Hardtop from the B-pillars forward, the Clubman is 240 mm (9.4 in) longer overall, with

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