BMW celebrates the 50th anniversary of its turning point

On the 30th November 1960 a very important decision was taken within BMW. It was BMW’s turning point with the approval of the company’s restructuring plan and thus confirming its independence. Yesterday, in a special ceremony at the Theresienhöhe in Munich on 30 November 2010, the BMW Group celebrated the 50th anniversary of that plan.

“Herbert Quandt’s business instinct and his ability to make courageous decisions at that time set a new course for our company and secured BMW’s ability to control its own future,” said Chairman of the Supervisory Board of BMW AG, Prof. Dr. Ing. Joachim Milberg.

This restructuring plan approved in 1960 came after the rejection of Daimler-Benz’s takeover bid for BMW in 1959 and was the start of BMW’s story of success. Since 2004, the BMW Group has become the world’s leading supplier of premium automobiles. From 1959 up to 2010, its workforce has grown from 6,900 to 96,000 employees and the sales numbers from 42,000 at that time to a predicted total of more than 1.4 million automobiles (BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce) in 2010.

The BMW Group success is based on long-term business decisions and bold, future-oriented action. “We benefit from having a shareholder structure with a family of entrepreneurs as our major shareholder. To this day, it has been a stabilising factor,” added Milberg.

“I consider it a privilege that we are able to make decisions from a long-term perspective, in the interests of all our stakeholders and in partnership with our workforce” noted Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Dr. Ing. Nobert Reithofer.

Since 2007, the BMW Group set its future path for success with Strategy Number ONE. “This strategy was introduced well before the financial and economic crisis and has been systematically implemented over the past three years. It laid the foundation for the upturn we are currently experiencing,” according to the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of BMW AG. New models enjoying success today, such as the BMW X1 and the MINI Countryman, were also decided upon in 2007.

From 1964 the German company has lived with the slogan “Sheer driving pleasure” and has become the epitome for every BMW brand models. “Today, BMW is a brand that combines dynamic performance and efficiency like no other. And that will apply in the future, also, regardless of the type of drive train under the bonnet,” commented Reithofer. “It also has to do with the people who work at BMW. Besides their high level of skill and dedication, they also have a strong identification with the company,” as Milberg pointed out.

The Theresienhöhe was chosen to host the ceremony because it was the same place where in 1959 shareholders rejected the Daimler-Benz bid to acquire BMW on 9 December 1959.