BMW Car IT: New Think Tank in the BMW

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News of December 19, 2001

BMW Car IT: New Think Tank in the BMW

Research and Development Network
BMW AG Establishes Subsidiary for the Development of Automotive Software and IT

Munich - In early December BMW AG established a new subsidiary for the development of software and information technology (IT). Through the new Company, BMW Car IT, the BMW Group is expanding its activities in this sector, providing the foundation for securing know-how, structures and processes for the development of vehicle-related software and information technology within the BMW Group and continuing the development of this technology to an even higher level. BMW Car IT enables the BMW Group to actively pursue the latest trends in the automotive industry, replacing more and more mechanical components by electronically masterminded systems and functions, and offering new customer benefits in the process. The concept and contents of BMW Car IT have been developed jointly with the Institute of Information Science of Munich Technical University, with which the BMW Group wishes to continue its close cooperation in future.

In the words of Dr Burkhard Göschel, BMW Board Member for Development and Purchasing, "the establishment of BMW Car IT is an important step in our strategy. The trend in the automotive industry points clearly from hardware to software. Information technology has now become one of BMW's important core skills. Through BMW Car IT we are able to pool this skill within the Company and enhance our abilities to an even higher standard."

Established as a plc, that is a company with limited liability or GmbH under German law, and based in Munich, BMW Car IT will be taking up its operations on 1 January 2002.

Efficient teams developing innovative solutions and processes

Flexible and innovative work methods will be among the highlights of the BMW Group's new think tank. Working in small and efficient teams, the associates of BMW Car IT are able to develop innovative software concepts and solutions then implemented in practice in close cooperation with the engineers responsible for series development at BMW's Research and Ínnovation Centre (FIZ). Apart from innovative IT applications, the associates of BMW Car IT will define new standards and processes in quality-oriented software development then applied throughout the entire range of BMW Group electronic development and research.

BMW Car IT expanding the BMW Group's international research and development network

Acting as an innovative spearhead particularly in the area of software and IT development, BMW Car IT fits perfectly into the BMW Group's international research and development network. To take up the latest trends worldwide and implement these trends as quickly as possible in the interest of the automotive industry, the BMW Group operates not only BMW Technik GmbH in Munich, but also two Technology Offices in Palo Alto, Silicon Valley, and in Japan. Two further locations in California also provide significant input, DesignworksUSA in Newbury Park and the BMW Engineering and Emissions Control Test Center in Oxnard. Through its competence in software and information technology, BMW Car IT supplements this strategy network, thus catering for the constantly growing significance of electronics in the automotive industry. The close interaction of all locations with the Research and Innovation Centre in Munich gives the BMW Group the guarantee that it will maintain and further expand its leadership in innovation in future, not only in the area of electronics.

(December 14, 2001)

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