BMW Celebrates 50 Years of Independence

Not many of us remember that one of the most successful carmakers of modern times, the Germans from BMW, were once in pretty much the same tough spot Chrysler and GM were last year.

In 1960, on November 30, BMW was fighting for survival and against a takeover bid submitted a year earlier by long-time rivals Daimler. Forced by the tough circumstances, the carmaker came up with a restructuring plan which proved to be extremely lucrative.

To celebrate the moment, BMW's executives decided to get together at the Theresienhohe in Munich on November 30, 2010, in a special ceremony created to mark the acceptance of the restructuring plan half of century ago.

“I consider it a privilege that we are able to make decisions from a long-term perspective, in the interests of all our stakeholders and in partnership with our workforce,” said Nobert Reithofer, BMW chairman of the board.

As a knife right into the hearts of the Daimler executives, the ceremony will be held in the exact same place where BMW rejected the Daimler offer in 1969. Of course, the speakers which will be attending the event will make lots of references to the way in which the BMW leader at that time and member of the BMW ruling family, Herbert Quandt, managed to navigate through the dangerous waters.

“Herbert Quandt’s business instinct and his ability to make courageous decisions at that time set a new course for our company and secured BMW’s ability to control its own future,” added Joachim Milberg, chairman of BMW's supervisory board.