BMW’s Quandt family renews pledge to the automaker

BMW AG’s largest shareholder, the Quandt family, will carry on its commitment to BMW through the challenges in  the luxury vehicles segment. The Quandt family is confident that BMW will reign supreme over Audi and other luxury car manufacturers.

“We as a family are looking forward” to shaping the future with BMW, Stefan Quandt . “Lead, don’t follow – that’s the entrepreneurial calling of BMW.”

It has been 50 years since the German family voted to save BMW AG from a takeover by Daimler AG. Currently, the Quandt family still owns 46% of BMW. Stefan Quandt and Susanne Klatten, both from the Quandt family, sit on the supervisory board.

The Quandt family is happy that BMW surpassed Mercedes-Benz as the world’s largest premium carmaker five years ago. Their aim is for BMW to double annual sales by 2020 to 2 million vehicles.

Unlike other automakers who used share swapping to survive the crisis, BMW has preferred to focused cooperations and alliances. Among these are the partnerships with PSA/Peugeot-Citroen SA on hybrid-drive components and four-cylinder engines for the Mini brand and SGL Carbon SE to make carbon fiber for the frame of an battery-powered city car that will arrive in 2013.

“BMW stands for long-term, future-oriented thought and action,” Chairman Joachim Milberg said. The Quandts remain to be the stabilizing factor of the BMW group. With the help of the Quandt family, CEO Norbert Reithofer laid out a strategy to achieve the 2 million sales goal for 2020. The Quandts remain to be an asset to the BMW Group.

Source: Autonews