Innovative BMW’s vision for next 100 years clear

BMW is celebrating its 100th birthday by looking ahead to the next 100 years.

The German maker of the “ultimate driving machines” marked the milestone with a look to what the future might hold for the company.

Now one of the world’s most innovative car makers, BMW was founded in 1916 and originally manufactured aircraft engines until Germany lost the First World War and the company was forced to cease making them as part of the Versailles Armistice Treaty.

It switched to motorcycle manufacturing and then, in 1928, started making cars. Its first model was the Dixi, based on the Austin 7.

With German rearmament in the 1930s, the company again began producing aircraft engines for the Luftwaffe. In a piece of history the company prefers to forget, it used prisoners of war and concentration camp inmates in its factory.

Since the 1960s BMW has produced a range of cars that have been praised for their driving dynamics and innovation.

Today its range of cars includes the allelectric i3 and hybrid i8.

BMW has celebrated its milestone by looking to the future with four new models released for 2017, including the new 5-Series and M5.

Seeing the future of autonomous selfdriving cars develop at GM, Google and Tesla, BMW is putting vast resources into developing its own line of driverless cars.

Looking out over the next century, BMW’s Vision Next 100 concept predicts a car created using 4D printing – a technique that has yet to be invented.

Of course, BMW has its rivals who decided to have a little fun at the manufacturer’s expense.

In a nice piece of troublemaking, Mercedes – which at 130 years old has a longer history – offered to help BMW celebrate by offering its employees free entry to the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart.

The future’s looking bright: German giant BMW has announced big plans for the next 100 years following a successful first century.