Volkswagen is now simply a brand collector. The others had been rather uncomplicated, but they were going to compete with BMW, a similarly large German automaker.
Vickers, the company that owns Bentley, stated in 1997 that it would be selling Rolls-Royce Motors. Because BMW provided engines and other components for both Bentley and Rolls-Royce, it made sense for a consumer to choose them. Additionally, BMW and Vickers produced airplane engines. Volkswagen outbid BMW when they offered PS430m, beating over their PS340m bid. However, this did not imply that Volkswagen was the sole owner. Instead, they just purchased the Rolls-Royce grille form and Spirit of Ecstasy trademarks, together with the production and administrative facilities, model names, and vehicle designs. They were denied the right to use the Rolls-Royce name or logo. In charge of them was Rolls-Royce Holdings.
BMW began providing parts for a new line of Rolls-Royce and Bentley vehicles in 1998. To license the Rolls-Royce name and logo, BMW paid Rolls-Royce PS40 million.
After a protracted legal battle and negotiation process, it was decided that Volkswagen would have access to the names and emblems from 1998 to 2002 while BMW would continue to provide engines and other parts.
Beginning on January 1, 2003, Volkswagen would be the only manufacturer of vehicles bearing the Bentley and BMW/Rolls-Royce brands.
Volkswagen upgraded the Bentley Crewe facility with PS500 million to boost output. Volkswagen reportedly contributed close to $2 billion to Bentley’s resurgence.
To commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee in 2002, Bentley gave her an official State Limousine.
In This Article...
Bentley
Bentley is a brand of Bentley Motors, a British luxury car manufacturer that is a member of the Volkswagen Group in Germany. Since 1998, Bentley has been a part of VW, with its headquarters in Crewe, United Kingdom.
Walter Owen Bentley and his brother Horace Miller Bentley established Bentley in 1909. In 1931, during the Great Depression, the car manufacturer entered receivership and was bought by British Central Equitable Trust, which eventually turned out to be a front for Rolls-Royce.
In order to isolate the production of Rolls-Royce and Bentley automobiles from the vitally important Rolls-Royce aerospace sector, the British government nationalized Rolls-Royce in 1971 after which Rolls-Royce Motors was established in 1973. Vickers, a multinational engineering company, acquired Rolls-Royce Motors in 1980.
Vickers chose to sell in 1997. Volkswagen AG significantly outbid BMW, with the transaction concluding in 1998. Ferdinand Piech, the head of Volkswagen, believed he had acquired all of the assets of Rolls-Royce and Bentley, but the fine print showed that Rolls-Royce plc, the aerospace company, actually owned the Rolls-Royce brand and mark and had only licensed it to the automotive business. Even worse, it then opted to transfer the license to BMW, its business partner in the production of commercial aircraft engines.
Given that BMW provided the engines for the Rolls-Royce Seraph and Bentley Arnage, Volkswagen had little leverage. Volkswagen produced Rolls-Royce vehicles for BMW between 1998 and 2003, when the company had finished developing the brand-new Phantom.
The Bentley Bentayga, its first SUV, the Continental GT, and the Flying Spur are some of its most recent models. Bentley employs certain VW plants across Europe in addition to Crewe, where it assembles the majority of its vehicles.
A Guide to Automobile Companies
The major automakers with present presences in the United States are listed below, along with the brands they sell.
BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce are all owned by BMW Group. Smart and Mercedes-Benz are owned by Daimler AG. Lincoln and Ford are owned by Ford Motor Co. Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, and Cadillac all belong to General Motors. Hummer is back as a GMC subsidiary brand. In order to co-develop EVs, GM and Honda have an official collaboration. Acura and Honda are owned by Honda Motor Co. It collaborates with GM. Sony Honda Mobility is the name of the electric vehicle firm they founded with Sony. Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia are all owned by Hyundai Motor Group. Mazda is owned by Mazda Motor Corp. Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Infiniti are all owned by the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. Following the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Peugeot S.A., a new company called Stellantis was created. According to the explanation, the word is derived from the Latin verb “stello,” which means “to dazzle with stars.” Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, and Ram are now under Stellantis and are FCA brands that are offered in the United States. Other Stellantis automobile brands include Citroen, DS Automobiles, Opel, Peugeot, and Vauxhall. Subaru is owned by Subaru Corp. Jaguar and Land Rover are owned by Tata Motors. Owned by Tesla. Lexus and Toyota are owned by Toyota Motor Corp. Additionally, it owns stock in Suzuki and Subaru. The automotive brand VinFast, along with VinHomes, VinBigData, VinBioCare, and VinBrain, are all owned by VinGroup. Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Scout, and Volkswagen are all brands owned by Volkswagen AG. Volvo, Polestar, and Lotus are all brands owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (ZGH).
Here are some of the most notable companies that own ultra-luxury and performance carmakers, including Lamborghini, Volkswagen, Rolls-Royce, and BMW.
- Several of the priciest, most opulent, and most powerful supercars on the market today are produced by subsidiaries of much larger corporations.
- For instance, Porsche, Lamborghini, Bentley, and Bugatti are all owned by the Volkswagen Group.
- However, only a small number of supercar brands don’t have larger automotive parent corporations.
One might assume there are dozens upon dozens of automobile manufacturers fighting for our business based on the sheer number of various marques on the road.
However, despite their high prices and illustrious names, even the most upscale manufacturers of ultra-luxury and supercars sell the majority of their products through a small number of enormous corporations.
In reality, General Motors is where your car actually originates, whether you purchase it from Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, or Buick. Alfa Romeos, Fiats, Jeeps, and Dodges are all included in the considerably wider category of Fiat Chrysler. Contrary to popular belief, this also applies to the most opulent, costly, and potent cars money can purchase.
Continue reading to find out which bigger firms are the real owners of independent names like Bentley, Bugatti, and Rolls-Royce.
What kind of partnership exist between Volkswagen and BMW?
Both of them are German. Volkswagen, The People’s Car, was established soon after BMW (Barvarian Motor Works), which was founded in 1917 from the remains of an aircraft engine factory, and had ties to the Nazi trade union.
What does BMW mean?
Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH is known as BMW. In 1917, the Munich company Rapp-Motorenwerke was transformed into BMW. Before being refounded as BMW AG in 1922, the firm was incorporated as Knorr-Bremse AG in 1920. It was the successor to the 1916-founded Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG.
Audi – just another Volkswagen?
Yes. The bigger Volkswagen Group, with its headquarters in Germany’s Bavaria, includes Audi. Other car brands owned by the Volkswagen Group include Bugatti, Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini, and others.
A BMW or a Toyota Supra?
By this point, everyone is pretty much in agreement that the new Toyota Supra is really a BMW Z4 dressed up in very chic Japanese garb. Some enthusiasts despise such fact, believing that BMW killed the Supra. Others are awed by its performance and realize that BMW’s assistance was essential to its creation. Could BMW, however, have made the Supra any better than it already was? Is thinking about such things even blasphemous? Top Gear’s newest video aims to answer that question.
In this new video, Becky Evans of Top Gear compares the A90 Toyota Supra, often known as the “Zupra,” to the venerable A80 “Mk4” Toyota Supra. The latter was always adored among Supra enthusiasts, but the Fast and Furious movie series helped it become legendary. Is it really as renown as many claim, or has everyone’s perception been tainted by nostalgia? Evans tests both vehicles side-by-side on Top Gear’s test track to find out before giving them to The Stig to record lap times.
The automobiles scarcely resemble one another underneath, however they do have a similar engine type. Both cars use 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six engines, despite having a 20-year gap between them and being produced by separate firms. Naturally, the newer A80 uses a BMW B58 engine, which is likewise very adjustable and amazing in its own right, while the older A80 employs a Toyota 2JZ engine, the venerable, incredibly customizable straight-six.
In this video, the older Supra’s engine is tweaked and produces a very healthy 520 horsepower, which is far higher than the 374 horsepower of the BMW-Supra (382 horsepower in North America). But unlike the outdated four-speed auto featured in the earlier Supra, the new Supra has an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission, which is far better. Let’s face it, despite having less power, the new Supra was undoubtedly faster on the track. It was far more capable due to its better grip and speedier gearbox. But the real query is, which would you like to own?
Which Toyota is powered by a BMW?
The turbocharged B48 2.0-liter inline-four or the turbocharged B58 3.0-liter inline-six are the two BMW-sourced engine options for the Supra. Japan, a few Asian nations, and Europe were the first markets where the 2.0-liter engine was made available; the United States acquired the engine in 2020 for the 2021 model year.
What businesses fall under BMW?
The BMW Group is the top premium vehicle and motorcycle manufacturer in the world and also offers top-notch financial and mobility services through its four brands, BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce, and BMW Motorrad. The BMW Group has a global sales network in more than 140 countries, and its production network consists of 31 production and assembly facilities in 15 countries.
The BMW Group sold more than 169,000 motorcycles and over 2.3 million passenger cars in 2020. On revenues of EUR 104.210 billion, the profit before tax for the 2019 fiscal year was EUR 7.118 billion. A total of 126,016 people worked for the BMW Group as of December 31, 2019.
Long-term planning and ethical behavior have always been the cornerstones of the BMW Group’s success. As a result, the company has made resource conservation a core component of its strategy, as well as thorough product accountability and ecological and social sustainability across the whole value chain.
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Who is BMW’s largest shareholder?
With more than 25% of the company’s shares in his ownership, Stefan Quandt is BMW’s greatest stakeholder. Second-largest stockholder is Susanne Klatten.
While the ownership of BMW has changed throughout time, Stefan Quandt has consistently held the majority of the shares.
Just around 20% of the shares are still under Susanne Klatten’s ownership, which is a sizeable holding.
Since BMW is a publicly traded company, hundreds of diverse stockholders collectively own more than half of its shares.