BMW Celebrates 40 years of ///M

“A company is like a human being. As long as it goes in for sports, it is fit, well-trained, full of enthusiasm and performance.” These were the words of Robert A. Lutz, BMW AG Board Member Sales, back in 1972. They were the words christening the youngest subsidiary of BMW AG at the time, BMW Motorsport GmbH. Today the company is called BMW M GmbH. But it is just as fit, well-trained, full of enthusiasm and performance as it was 40 years ago.

The early 1970s were the dawn of a new age for BMW: A new, young Board of Management under Eberhard von Kuenheim had set out to strategically power and pursue the ongoing success of the Company. This included the construction of a new head office – the legendary BMW Four-Cylinder – as well as the establishment of BMW’s own in-house Sports Division. Quoting Robert A. Lutz once again: “With sports always being a driving force at BMW, also while the Company was developing dynamically in the business world, it was only obvious at this point that we should concentrate and consolidate our activities in motor sport.”