Newsroom

Groundbreaking Held During Internal Ceremony with SC Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt. New 67,000 Square Foot Building Will Open in Summer of 2022. Spartanburg, S.C. (February 22, 2021)… Officials of BMW Manufacturing, along with South Carolina Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt, broke ground today for a new $20 million, 67,000 square-foot training center on the BMW campus. The investment is a continuation of BMW’s 2017 commitment to invest $200 million over five years into workforce training. When completed in the summer of 2022, the building will feature multiple classrooms for both professional development and technical training, an outdoor amphitheater, and a unique concept of outdoor meeting and workspace that includes wireless...

Munich. It is the biggest over-the-air upgrade in the history of the BMW Group. The rollout of the latest version of BMW Operating System 7 (ver. 11/20) will get underway on 22.02.2021. Over one million vehicles worldwide from the premium carmaker across more than 20 models are due to receive the software update, setting another new record for the largest over-the-air upgrade campaign ever carried out by a European manufacturer. Highlight features of the latest software version include deep integration of the voice assistant Amazon Alexa for five countries, the ability to quickly and easily sign in with your driver profile once on board using the My BMW app and expansion of Active Navigation to cover additional countries. Customers will...

The Sundancer® 370 is the First Sea Ray Model to Showcase the New Design Elements. Newbury Park, CA, (Feb. 18, 2021) — Designworks, a BMW Group company, announced today a collaboration with leading pleasure boat manufacturer, Sea Ray, to develop a new sleek, sophisticated design language for the brand. The first new, redesigned model – the all-new Sundancer 370 Outboard – will be uveiled during a live Facebook event today at 12:00 p.m. EST. The official release of this new product is in conjunction with the 45th anniversary of the Sundancer series. “Sea Ray has a rich history as a leading boat manufacturer for more than 60 years,” said Johannes Lampela, Director of Industrial Design at Designworks. “The Sea Ray look is very...

Munich. The pioneer in the field of sustainable mobility celebrates its anniversary. The BMW i brand was launched ten years ago. The official launch for the anniversary will take place on Sunday, 21 February 2021. At https://www.bmw.com/en/innovation/bmw-i-10-year-anniversary.html we will look back at the milestones of the first decade of BMW i - from the birth of the brand in 2011 to the BMW iX which will be launched soon. The tenth anniversary of the BMW i brand will also be the focus of a broad-based information campaign on the other social media channels of the BMW Group, which will continue until the International Motor Show (IAA) 2021. BMW i stands for the transformation of individual mobility and plays a central role within the...

The organisers of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, the Grand Hotel Villa D’Este and BMW Group Classic, have together decided to postpone the event initially planned for the end of May 2021 to the weekend of 1 to 3 October 2021. We started the year 2021 full of confidence and anticipation for the upcoming Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este and hoped that the pandemic would be over as quickly as possible. The global efforts to battle the crisis are truly impressive and they are making progress. However, the fact is that the current situation still precludes our carrying out the preparation for a Concorso in May 2021 that fully meets our aspirations. We hope that this later date will permit us to offer our guests a programme of...

BMW has started the year with a collection of award wins from leading UK media brands including GQ, Carwow and Company Car Today. GQ name BMW iX ‘EV of the Year’ 2021 Ahead of its market launch later this year, the BMW iX was named EV of the Year at the GQ Car Awards 2021. The leading men’s lifestyle title highlighted the high-tech interior, including the new sculptured touchscreen concept, as one of the driving forces behind the win. The vehicle’s body structure with an aluminium spaceframe and innovative Carbon Cage was also key to its success at the awards. With the latest fifth-generation eDrive technology and a modern design language, the new BMW iX has been designed from the ground up for electro-mobility. It will launch in the...

Collaboration with New York City native and luxury womenswear designer, LaQuan Smith, will celebrate the intersection of design, craftsmanship and style in the automotive and fashion worlds. BMW X5 M and X7 M50i Sports Activity Vehicles to appear in custom content series. BMW of North America returns as the Official Automotive Partner of New York Fashion Week: The Shows for the FW ‘21 season. In this latest chapter of their partnership, BMW and IMG will join in support of New York Fashion Week (NYFW) to celebrate fashion, culture, design and economic development. The highlight of this year’s activation is a custom content series with luxury womenswear fashion designer – and New York City’s own – LaQuan Smith. The content will...

Munich. Red. Yellow. Blue. Everything started with three large-scale paintings by Gerhard Richter that BMW commissioned from the artist in 1971. Today, BMW is committed to cultural engagement around the world and takes its social responsibility seriously as a corporate citizen. Over a hundred long-term cultural initiatives of the BMW Group in the fields of modern and contemporary art, classical music, jazz and sound as well as in architecture and design have been well established throughout the decades. Ilka Horstmeier, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Director of Human Resources and Labour Relations: “During times of rapid change, responsibility and reliability are of the greatest value. As is culture. For half a century...

BMW Group Plant Hams Hall: Twenty years. Twelve milestone products. One UK manufacturing success. Hams Hall. As BMW Group Plant Hams Hall celebrates 20 years of production in the Midlands, we explore twelve pivotal moments and the products that put this North Warwickshire plant on the map as a centre of engine manufacturing excellence. Today, the latest generation of three and four-cylinder petrol engines roll off the line at more than one per minute, and are supplied to nine different vehicle plants across the world from Oxford, UK, to Germany to the USA. More than five million BMW and MINI cars have been powered by a Hams Hall engine, since the plant first started production in 2001. Engines aren’t the only thing this plant does...

Hams Hall. BMW Group’s UK engine manufacturing plant, located in North Warwickshire, has reached a major milestone. Officially opening and starting production in 2001, the plant is this week marking 20 successful years manufacturing highly efficient and award-winning three and four-cylinder petrol engines. A committed workforce of more than 1,000 people support the day-to-day operations of the site, which opened on 8 February, 2001. Around a third of the team are also celebrating their own 20-year or more contribution to the plant, with some of the original project team members who were involved in the development of the site still a part of today’s workforce. Plant director, Dirk Dreher said: “Twenty years of manufacturing our...

München. In 2021, the FUTURE FORUM by BMW Welt will be exploring the big issues of our future. Now in its third year, visitors can once again look forward to inspiring, digital live formats and expert talks featuring top-class speakers. Since October 2019, the FUTURE FORUM by BMW Welt has been a progressive platform that invites experts from different disciplines and movers and shakers with an innovative spirit to share their visions of the future. It’s a source of inspiration and actively promotes discussions on all issues of tomorrow. True to the slogan EXPLORE THE FUTURE. GET INSPIRED. JOIN THE CONVERSATION. In 2021, the FUTURE FORUM by BMW Welt will focus on established digital and hybrid formats, allowing participants access to...

Munich. The BMW Group will begin sourcing aluminium produced using solar electricity with immediate effect. This marks an important milestone on the road to the company’s goal of lowering CO2 emissions in its supplier network by 20% by 2030. Since producing aluminium is highly energy-intensive, the use of green power – such as solar electricity – offers considerable potential for reducing CO2 emissions. That is why the BMW Group also plans to source aluminium produced with green power in the long term – enabling it to avoid approx. 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions over the next ten years. This is equivalent to about three percent of the CO2 targets the company has set for its supplier network. “We aspire to lead the way in...

Munich. The market launch of the BMW M5 CS is the absolute highlight among the innovations that will enrich the BMW model range in spring 2021. The first special model based on the BMW M5 Competition takes on the top position in the BMW M GmbH range in terms of engine power, performance and exclusivity, underlining the brand's close ties with racing. Model diversity in the premium segment of the compact and mid-size class will be expanded from March 2021 with additional drive variants for the BMW 4 Series Coupé and the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupé. What is more, attractive additions to the standard or optionally available equipment in numerous BMW model series enhance driving pleasure, comfort, individuality and safety. A feature previously...

Munich. Pioneering energy efficiency, impressive economy and hallmark driving pleasure are combined in the new entry-level plug-in hybrid models of the BMW 3 Series and the BMW 5 Series. Both model series will be supplemented by two further models each with electrified drive from March 2021. The new model variants of the BMW 3 Series Sedan and BMW 3 Series Touring as well as the BMW 5 Series Sedan and BMW 5 Series Touring feature the fourth generation of BMW eDrive technology. In this way the BMW Group is consistently continuing its model offensive in the field of vehicles with electrified drive systems. It is already quite clear that electromobility is increasingly becoming a key driver of sustainable growth for the company. For the...

Munich. When an ideal balance is called for between dynamics and ride comfort, the BMW 3 Series and 4 Series models consistently set the benchmark within their segments in the premium market. In terms of electrically powered vehicles, the new BMW i4 is set to take on this role very soon. The first purely electrically powered 4-door Gran Coupé enriches locally emission-free mobility with sheer driving pleasure. “For the first time, we’ve developed a BMW with sporty DNA for purely electric driving entirely from scratch,” explains project manager David Alfredo Ferrufino Camacho. “The BMW i4 offers everything BMW stands for – and it’s fully electric, too.” A few months prior to its world premiere, the BMW i4 is currently completing the...

Munich. As one of the pioneers in the use of a smartphone as a digital vehicle key since 2018, BMW is pressing ahead with the development and popularisation of its BMW Digital Key feature, which is available to iPhone users today. In line with this goal, the premium car manufacturer will introduce the BMW Digital Key Plus, a convenient and secure way to unlock and start your car without taking your iPhone out of your bag or pocket. This latest incarnation of the service is based on Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology, the technology found on the U1 chip of iPhone. The BMW Digital Key Plus feature will be first launched with the all-electric BMW iX for iPhone. Ultra-Wideband technology for enhanced convenience and security. The new...

Munich. With yet another new sales record, the BMW M GmbH continued to grow also in the 2020 fiscal year. Despite the effects of the Corona pandemic on the market, it was possible to increase the number of BMW M automobiles sold by 6 percent to 144,218 units. Thanks to this result, the subsidiary company of the BMW Group with the status of an independent company has significantly strengthened its market leadership within the competitive environment first gained in 2019. “The fact that we were able to conclude this exceptionally challenging year with yet a further record is great validation of our consistent growth strategy,” says Markus Flasch, chairman of the board of the BMW M GmbH. “We can be particularly proud of the fact that we...

Munich. The BMW Group once again confirmed its position as the world’s leading premium automotive manufacturer last year, with a total of 2,324,809 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles (-8.4%) delivered to customers worldwide. 686,069 vehicles were sold at Group level in the fourth quarter, an increase of three percent (+3.2%) year-on-year. Sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles climbed almost 40 percent (38.9%) compared to the previous year, reflecting strong customer interest in this drive train variant. “We responded to the effects of the corona pandemic with great agility in sales management and production. As a result, we succeeded in concluding the year with a strong fourth quarter and once again we lead the premium segment...

Munich. 20 years have passed since the first generation of BMW iDrive made its debut. Now, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2021, BMW is announcing the next chapter in its display and operating system, which is set to transport driver-vehicle interaction into a new digital and intelligent age. The CES will take place on 11 – 14 January 2021 in exclusively digital form. BMW is utilising the virtual forum the event provides to give a global audience an initial preview of its upcoming all-new BMW iDrive system, which will be officially unveiled later in 2021. BMW’s digital offering at CES 2021 also includes an entertaining teaser video that visualises the development of the user experience inside a BMW over the last two decades. The...

Munich. BMW has a very special surprise in store for its drivers as the New Year dawns. Starting on 31 December, an animation can be played in the vehicle display – a New Year’s message accompanied by some fittingly festive music and a stunningly orchestrated ambient lighting sequence. The New Year Festive Animation will be available (in participating markets) to all customers with suitably equipped vehicles from 1 – 7 January. Starting the car brings up a special banner in the Control Display. Clicking on it then activates the New Year programme, comprising a full-screen festive animation in the Control Display with aptly chosen backing music and an accompanying light show courtesy of the ambient lighting system. Customers also have...

Munich. The ceremonies may have taken place digitally this year, but BMW’s joy in receiving a number of prestigious awards for its current range of models, design philosophy and technology was very real despite the switch to virtual. The Munich-based premium carmaker earned praise once again in 2020 both in Germany and abroad with an array of title wins and top rankings in expert assessments and public votes. These distinctions ranged from awards for new models and prizes for BMW’s current design language, its latest technological innovations and its brand presence, to special accolades recognising the brand’s exceptional quality, reliability, safety and customer satisfaction record. The models crowned by specialist publications...