BMW AG is a German producer of automobiles
BMW AG is a German producer of automobiles, motorcycles, engines and also bicycles founded by Rapp Motorenwerke in 1916. The organization offers vehicles worldwide under the brands – BMW, MINI, and Rolls-Royce. Major manufacture of facilities concentrated in Germany. Vehicles are additionally assembled at undertakings in China, Russia, Thailand, South Africa, and the USA. The BMW Group’s activity is divided into three segments- automobile, motorcycle and financial services. The Automobile and motorcycle segments are involved in the production, improvement, assembly and sale of vehicles under the BMW, Rolls-Royce and MINI brands, as well as accessories and spare parts. Additionally, the financial services segment focuses mainly on car leasing, lending to retail customers and dealers, accepting customer deposits and insurance operations. BMW Group works at the global markets with 22 factories and the assembly plants, 34 sales departments and research network. The main competitors of BMW Group would be Mercedes-Benz, Fiat, Nissan and Toyota. The following table illustrates the amount of vehicles sold in the last two years.
Automobile Segment 2016 2017 Difference
BMW 2 003 359 2 088 283 4.2%
Mini 360 233 371 881 3.2%
Rolls-Royce 4 011 3 362 -16.2%
Total 2 367 603 2 463 526 4.1%
Motorcycle Segment 2016 2017 Difference
Sold Motorcycle in total 145 032 164 153 13.2%
The automotive segment, which brings the Group a larger share of revenue (90%), showed an increase in sales by 4.1%. Sales of BMW cars grew by 4.2%, Mini – by 3.2%, and Rolls-Royce, on the contrary, decreased by 16.2%.According to bmw.com the fastest growing sales of the BMW brand in China (+ 15.1%) and in Asia as a whole (+ 13.5%) against the background of modest changes in sales volumes in the European market as a whole (+ 0.9%), and even a decline in the UK (-4.2%), Germany (-1%) and the United States (-3.5%). Moreover, in the motorcycle segment, sales increased by 13.2% to 164.2 thousand motorcycles. According to bmw.com the most impressive sales growth occurred in the European market, namely: France and Italy showed an increase of 24.4% and 17.3%, respectively. Furthermore, the rise and fall can seemingly be attributed to the state of the economy.
Concerning to the financial risk of BMW group, could be affected by the illegally copying not only the accessories, but including the parts or even whole automobiles. The activity of counterfeiters violates the legal rights of trademark owners and damages the reputation of the BMW Group. Therefore, the BMW group seeks to protect customers from fakes. The BMW Group Trademark Protection Department works closely with customs and other authorities in more than 75 countries around the world. Together, they track counterfeit goods, take them out of sale and bring the perpetrators to justice.
