Sharing the wealth, listening to even the lowest-ranking workers, and rewarding risk have paid off big time.
Here are some excerpts from a really good and behind the scenes article in BusinessWeek about BMW:
[font=arial,helvetica,univers]Inside a research lab in Munich, a BMW 5 Series sedan is splayed open, with electronic gadgets and wires spewing in all directions. The project: an onboard computer that will recognize you, then seek out information you want and entertainment you love. While you sleep, your BMW will scour the Net -- via Wi-Fi and other connections -- collecting, say, 15 minutes of new jazz followed by a 10-minute podcast on the energy industry. ...[/font][font=arial,helvetica,univers] Launching into a riff on the wonders of melding the virtual world with the nuts and bolts of an automobile, Vögel says the next generation of BMW 5 Series and 7 Series sedans will be the most Net-savvy cars on the road.
...
[/font][font=arial,helvetica,univers] Last year the company sprinted past its stumbling archrival, Mercedes-Benz, in global sales of its BMWs, Minis, and Rolls-Royces. (The German company bought the Rolls name in 1999.) More impressive, BMW's 8.1% operating margins make the automaker one of the most profitable in the industry. In the first half of 2006, BMW's sales rose 10.2%, to $32 billion, while pretax earnings jumped 44.5%, to $3.2 billion, despite a strong euro and punishing increases in raw material costs.
...
[/font][font=arial,helvetica,univers]BMW buyers can select everything from engine type to the color of the gear-shift box to a seemingly limitless number of interior trims -- and then change their mind and order a completely different configuration as little as five days before production begins. Customers love it. They request some 170,000 changes a month in their orders, mostly higher-priced options such as a bigger engine or a more luxurious interior. There are so many choices that line workers assemble exactly the same car only about once every nine months.
[/font][font=arial,helvetica,univers] That kind of individualization would swamp most automakers with budget-busting complexity. But BMW has emerged as a sort of anti-Toyota. One excels in simplifying automaking. The other excels in mastering complexity and tailoring cars to customers' tastes. That's what differentiates BMW from Lexus and the rest of the premium pack. "BMW drivers never change to other brands," says Yoichi Tomihara, president of Toyota Deutschland, who concedes that Toyota lags behind BMW in the sort of customization that creates emotional appeal.[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,univers]
[/font]
Here are some excerpts from a really good and behind the scenes article in BusinessWeek about BMW:
[font=arial,helvetica,univers]Inside a research lab in Munich, a BMW 5 Series sedan is splayed open, with electronic gadgets and wires spewing in all directions. The project: an onboard computer that will recognize you, then seek out information you want and entertainment you love. While you sleep, your BMW will scour the Net -- via Wi-Fi and other connections -- collecting, say, 15 minutes of new jazz followed by a 10-minute podcast on the energy industry. ...[/font][font=arial,helvetica,univers] Launching into a riff on the wonders of melding the virtual world with the nuts and bolts of an automobile, Vögel says the next generation of BMW 5 Series and 7 Series sedans will be the most Net-savvy cars on the road.
...
[/font][font=arial,helvetica,univers] Last year the company sprinted past its stumbling archrival, Mercedes-Benz, in global sales of its BMWs, Minis, and Rolls-Royces. (The German company bought the Rolls name in 1999.) More impressive, BMW's 8.1% operating margins make the automaker one of the most profitable in the industry. In the first half of 2006, BMW's sales rose 10.2%, to $32 billion, while pretax earnings jumped 44.5%, to $3.2 billion, despite a strong euro and punishing increases in raw material costs.
...
[/font][font=arial,helvetica,univers]BMW buyers can select everything from engine type to the color of the gear-shift box to a seemingly limitless number of interior trims -- and then change their mind and order a completely different configuration as little as five days before production begins. Customers love it. They request some 170,000 changes a month in their orders, mostly higher-priced options such as a bigger engine or a more luxurious interior. There are so many choices that line workers assemble exactly the same car only about once every nine months.
[/font][font=arial,helvetica,univers] That kind of individualization would swamp most automakers with budget-busting complexity. But BMW has emerged as a sort of anti-Toyota. One excels in simplifying automaking. The other excels in mastering complexity and tailoring cars to customers' tastes. That's what differentiates BMW from Lexus and the rest of the premium pack. "BMW drivers never change to other brands," says Yoichi Tomihara, president of Toyota Deutschland, who concedes that Toyota lags behind BMW in the sort of customization that creates emotional appeal.[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,univers]
[/font]
