Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO of BMW of North America, spoke today as the North American International Auto Show opened in Detroit, Michigan. He covered many years in a short time.
2015 marks BMW of North America’s 40th anniversary. A few days ago, BMW finished last year as the top-selling premium car brand in the United States for the third time. “Once again, we finished 2014 as the Number One premium brand in the United States, selling almost 340,000 units—a new record, and the highest U.S. volume in BMW's history,” said Willisch. “And we're proud to be the premium leader in the Americas—from Canada to South America.”
He then addressed BMW’s manufacturing presence in the United States, saying that, “in South Carolina, our manufacturing plant is a cornerstone of production for BMW. In fact, the plant achieved a new record in 2014, producing over 350,000 BMWs. In all, BMW is responsible for supporting over 70,000 jobs in America.”
Those numbers are bound to go up. BMW Plant Spartanburg is undergoing a billion-dollar expansion and when it is completed, it will be the largest BMW factory in the world.
Mr. Willisch was justifiably proud to acknowledge BMW’s accomplishments in the 40 years that BMW NA has been around. He pointed out that “when BMW of North America was founded in 1975, we offered only four models and sold around 19,000 cars. But BMW had a clear vision: establish our performance and engineering reputation in the U.S., and set in stone BMW as the Ultimate Driving Machine. To grow the brand, we knew we had to get more visibility, so we decided to go racing!”
And did they ever! BMW won both the 24 Hours and Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring in the IMSA GT endurance series. CEO Willisch wanted to emphasize the importance of that accomplishment, so he did it in the best possible way, by announcing, “Ladies and gentlemen, we're proud to have the 1975 BMW 3.0 CSL on the stand here today! This CSL stunned everyone who witnessed it—particularly our competitors who only saw it from behind.”
Willisch explained further, “At Sebring in ‘75, this car secured the first victory for our new American company. And other victories—such as Daytona a year later—followed."
Racing wins were important, but what those wins represented was even more important. Willisch continued, “The CSL's greatest achievement was to help firmly establish the company as the maker of the Ultimate Driving Machine. And over the last 40 years, it has been our enduring commitment to this philosophy that remains a cornerstone of BMW's success in the U.S. today.”
CEO Willisch wrapped up his comments telling the crowd that “BMW is about the future, and this BMW CSL is an important precursor to the latest models we have to show you today!”
For those in attendance who then looked at the other BMWs on the stand, it must have been easy to connect the dots from the amazing #25 3.0 CSL to BMW’s newly refreshed sports coupe flagship lineup of the BMW 6 Series Convertible, 6 Series Gran Coupe, and the dazzling M6.—Scott Blazey
[Photos courtesy of Carscoops.]
