The History of BMW

Very few people in fact know the extent that the history of BMW is intertwined with world history, and that the company was in fact closed at the end of world war one as the result of the treaty of Versailles. Or; that that BMW traces its origins back over 100 years.

It all began back in the early part of the 1900s in Bavaria when three manufacturing companies joined together to form one business entity. Then after some inside company politics were settled in 1916, and one of the original founders was ousted from his position as president, the company was renamed Bayerische Motorenwerke, by its then board of directors.

As stated above, the company was shuttered for around a year following the end of WW1 because at that time it made only airplane engines for military aircraft. You see the terms of the treaty of Versailles dictated that no arms could be manufactured in Germany, and Bavaria was a part of the German empire.

Of course they did eventually reopen about a year later under the ownership of a company by the name of BFW, to begin manufacturing industrial engines, and shortly thereafter underwent yet another name change. This time to BMW. It was also about this time that they began production of their first motorcycles.

Fast forward to 1929, and the BMW Company begins to produce automobiles after the acquisition of another company named Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach. While there really is not much to be said about this first entrance into automobile manufacturing per se, none the less it did lead up to the production of the BMW 328 sports car in 1936.

It was also about that same time in the mid to late 1930s that the German war machine began to crank back up in violation of the terms of the treaty of Versailles, which in turn led to BMW once again getting into the business of military aircraft motor production. Even so, this wasn't a unanimous decision by the board of directors.

The director of the company, Franz Joseph Popp had not forgotten that it was BMWs participation in war materials production during the First World War that had almost let to its complete demise. So fast forward to the end of WW2 some nine years later, and his intuitions were to be proven correct as BMW was reduced to making simple pots, and pans to survive as a business entity.

As crazy as it sounds, it was the portion of the company that ended up in the hands socialist Russia on the eastern side of the line that divided Europe after WW2 that was the quickest to get back into the motorcycle, and automobile business. In fact it wasn't until 1952 that BMW was back in the business of producing cars in the country of Bavaria.

Even then, sales of the cars were so dismal that there came a point where the company's board of directors found themselves seriously considering a buyout proposition from Daimler Benz. The deal most likely would have gone through, if a wealthy industrialist by the name of Herbert Quandt had not stepped in to purchase a controlling interest and also offer is business acumen that has guided the company to where it is today.

Tyrrell Kumar Chriss writes for Stephen James BMW an award winning BMW London dealership. Visit the website to find out more. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tyrrell_Kumar_Chriss

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