Here is a little posting on the Board of Directors of the BMW AG:
The BoD has one Chairman, 3 Deputy Chairman and 15 more members. The board therefore, consists of 19 members. This is a very large numbers regarding that it is suposed to be 12 members or less!
Looking through their other board memberships, it can clearly be said that these people are ver busy.
However, there doesn't seem to be a restriction on how long they are allowed to serve.
I want to point out 2 members:
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h.c. Dr.-Ing. E.h. Joachim Milberg
Chairman of the Supervisory Board BMW AG, Munich, Germany
Elected to Supervisory Board: 2004
Current term expires: 2012
Until May 2002, he was chairman of the managment board.
Other board memberships*: Supervisory Board, Bertelsmann AG, Gütersloh, Germany; Supervisory Board, Festo AG, Esslingen, Germany; Board of Directors, Deere & Company, Moline, Illinois, USA; Supervisory Board, ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Friedrichshafen, Germany
Manfred Schoch serves as a Deputy Chairman and Member of Supervisory Board of BMW Group. Mr. Schoch is Chairman of the Central Works Council.
I think Mr. Schoch is important to mention becasue as Prof. Busija mentioned in class, one mamber of the board has to be an employee (member of the union)or 2 members have to be independent ambassadors from the union.
Overll, this board seems to work well regarding the performance of BMW compared to other firms in this industry, although it doesn't fulfill our characteristics!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Sunday, June 7, 2009
"Project i"
BMW refers to "Project i" to its push into electric cars.
BusinessWeek published an article on March 12th on this topic.
Currently, BMW is spending more than $1 billion on the development of a small car for urban drivers that will be electrically powered.
In New York and Los Angeles, BMW started a test market on such all-electric vehicles. BMW is leasing 500 MINI Sedans that have been modified to run on batteries. Daimler is currently testing eletric SMARTs in London.
This test project shall help to eliminate the industry's biggest fear that only few would be willing to pay a higher price for a car that only can drive 150 miles between charges.
Despite all the prejudices, BMW had no problems finding customers eager to pay $850 per month to lease such a mdifies MINI, although only 2 seats are usable because the batteries are displaced in the rear seats.
The moto of "you drive the future" seems hip!
Despite these great news, the indusrty still faces many problem that have to be solved. Even if the prices in battery fall to a third of its currnet price, the batteries per car still cost $14,000, as Boston Consulting Group estimated.
More optimistic consultants such as Consultant Bain & Co argue that by 2020 the costs of batteries will have fallen to $4,000 per car which would allow the car manufacturers to offer a showroom price of $20,000.
Especially BMW should be in a better position with this innovation than its rivlas becasue the well-heeled people who drive Bimmers might be just the kind of buyers who would want a sporty electric for commuting and short trips around town!
I really hope that this innovation becomes a great and not too costly alternative. It would help to solve many environmental problems. I would definitively consider buying such a car!
Would you be a potential customer?
BusinessWeek published an article on March 12th on this topic.
Currently, BMW is spending more than $1 billion on the development of a small car for urban drivers that will be electrically powered.
In New York and Los Angeles, BMW started a test market on such all-electric vehicles. BMW is leasing 500 MINI Sedans that have been modified to run on batteries. Daimler is currently testing eletric SMARTs in London.
This test project shall help to eliminate the industry's biggest fear that only few would be willing to pay a higher price for a car that only can drive 150 miles between charges.
Despite all the prejudices, BMW had no problems finding customers eager to pay $850 per month to lease such a mdifies MINI, although only 2 seats are usable because the batteries are displaced in the rear seats.
The moto of "you drive the future" seems hip!
Despite these great news, the indusrty still faces many problem that have to be solved. Even if the prices in battery fall to a third of its currnet price, the batteries per car still cost $14,000, as Boston Consulting Group estimated.
More optimistic consultants such as Consultant Bain & Co argue that by 2020 the costs of batteries will have fallen to $4,000 per car which would allow the car manufacturers to offer a showroom price of $20,000.
Especially BMW should be in a better position with this innovation than its rivlas becasue the well-heeled people who drive Bimmers might be just the kind of buyers who would want a sporty electric for commuting and short trips around town!
I really hope that this innovation becomes a great and not too costly alternative. It would help to solve many environmental problems. I would definitively consider buying such a car!
Would you be a potential customer?
Friday, June 5, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Mission Statement
This statement is retireved from the annual report 2008:
"Today, the BMW Group is one of the ten largest car manufacturers in the world and possesses, with its BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands, three of the strongest premium brands in the car industry.
The BMW Group also has a strong market position in the motorcycle sector and operates successfully in the area of financial services.
The Number ONE strategy, adopted in 2007, has set the BMW Group on course for a successful
future.
The business has been given a new strategic direction with the emphasis on profitability and
long-term value growth. The BMW Group’s activities will remain firmly focused on the premium
segments of the international automobile markets.
The mission statement up to the year 2020 is clearly defined: The BMW Group is the world’s leading provider of premium products and premium services for individual mobility."
I am a bit disappointed by this mission statement. It is not adressing any stakeholders and it is pretty broad in its "goals". However, it seems as if they wnat to concentrate of increaseing market share. This is actually consistent with the previous post.
Also, it does not mention any difficulties the whole industry faces. This statement could be several years old! What do you think?
"Today, the BMW Group is one of the ten largest car manufacturers in the world and possesses, with its BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands, three of the strongest premium brands in the car industry.
The BMW Group also has a strong market position in the motorcycle sector and operates successfully in the area of financial services.
The Number ONE strategy, adopted in 2007, has set the BMW Group on course for a successful
future.
The business has been given a new strategic direction with the emphasis on profitability and
long-term value growth. The BMW Group’s activities will remain firmly focused on the premium
segments of the international automobile markets.
The mission statement up to the year 2020 is clearly defined: The BMW Group is the world’s leading provider of premium products and premium services for individual mobility."
I am a bit disappointed by this mission statement. It is not adressing any stakeholders and it is pretty broad in its "goals". However, it seems as if they wnat to concentrate of increaseing market share. This is actually consistent with the previous post.
Also, it does not mention any difficulties the whole industry faces. This statement could be several years old! What do you think?
Monday, June 1, 2009
Increased market share globally
In the first quarter of 2009, the BMW Group delivered 21.2% less cars to dealers and consumers.
Howeve, the company has a positive perspective about 2009 which the chairman Dr. Reithofer descibes as a transition year where new strategies have to implemented in order to cut cost and stabalize its current position in the premium segments.
According to Dr. Reithofer, the BMW group was able to maintain a solid postion among the international competitors in the first quarter of 2009. The corporation increase its market share slightly in the premium segment to 20.7%.
Even in its largest market but heavily affected by the recession, the United States, It was possible for the company to increase market share as well.
Dr. Reithofer emphesised that due to weak purchasing power, the company will focus on gaining and maintaining market share.
The share was traded today for 26.92 Euro!
Howeve, the company has a positive perspective about 2009 which the chairman Dr. Reithofer descibes as a transition year where new strategies have to implemented in order to cut cost and stabalize its current position in the premium segments.
According to Dr. Reithofer, the BMW group was able to maintain a solid postion among the international competitors in the first quarter of 2009. The corporation increase its market share slightly in the premium segment to 20.7%.
Even in its largest market but heavily affected by the recession, the United States, It was possible for the company to increase market share as well.
Dr. Reithofer emphesised that due to weak purchasing power, the company will focus on gaining and maintaining market share.
The share was traded today for 26.92 Euro!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Introduction
Hello everyone!
I have decided to blog about BMW. The first reason why I chose this German based company is that it belongs to the automobile industry which will be analyzed by my team. Secondly, I once did an internship at its headquarter in Munich which I absolutely enjoyed and where I learnd a lot. This made me even more curious about how this successful company operates and what challanges it faces. Therefore, I hope to inform you and myself about BMW in the next few weeks!
The BMW Group consists of 3 brands BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.
The key areas this company is working in is car manufacturing, motorcycle manufcturing and financial services. As mentioned earlier, the headquarter is base in Munich, Germany. It operates in 150 countries.
Production plants are located in Germany, Austria, Great Britain, China, Southafrica and the USA (Spartanburg, SC) and further assembling is done in India, Russia, Egypt and Malaysia.
BMW Group has 99.079 employee globally (Feb. 2009). Its revenue 2008 was 53,197 Mrd. Euro which is an approx. 5% decrease compared to 2007 which was the company's best operating fiscal year.
The Chairman is call Dr.-Ing. Norbert Reithofer.
The company is publicaly traded on the German Stock Exchange called DAX. It is currently traded for 25.40 Euro.
Some more information on the corporation:
I have decided to blog about BMW. The first reason why I chose this German based company is that it belongs to the automobile industry which will be analyzed by my team. Secondly, I once did an internship at its headquarter in Munich which I absolutely enjoyed and where I learnd a lot. This made me even more curious about how this successful company operates and what challanges it faces. Therefore, I hope to inform you and myself about BMW in the next few weeks!
The BMW Group consists of 3 brands BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.
The key areas this company is working in is car manufacturing, motorcycle manufcturing and financial services. As mentioned earlier, the headquarter is base in Munich, Germany. It operates in 150 countries.
Production plants are located in Germany, Austria, Great Britain, China, Southafrica and the USA (Spartanburg, SC) and further assembling is done in India, Russia, Egypt and Malaysia.
BMW Group has 99.079 employee globally (Feb. 2009). Its revenue 2008 was 53,197 Mrd. Euro which is an approx. 5% decrease compared to 2007 which was the company's best operating fiscal year.
The Chairman is call Dr.-Ing. Norbert Reithofer.
The company is publicaly traded on the German Stock Exchange called DAX. It is currently traded for 25.40 Euro.
Some more information on the corporation:
- Primary US SIC Code
3711: Motor vehicles and car bodies - Primary NAICS Code
336111: Automobile Manufactur
So, this was a brief introduction of this company. I will shortly post more on the recent developments.
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