BayerischeMotorenWerke, (German for Bavarian Motor Works), known worldwide in its abbreviated form BMW, is recognised as one of the most successful companies in the automobile, motorcycle, and engine manufacturing industry. Founded by Franz Josef Popp in 1916, BMW was initially an aircraft-engine manufacturing business, eventually turning towards the production of motorcycles and automobiles within the first fifteen years of production. Based on a study involving 47,000 consumers across 15 markets conducted in 2012, BMW was listed as the most reputable company in the world by forbes.com. These rankings were based on four factors: trust, esteem, admiration and good feeling. Suffering substantially in 2008/2009 during the global financial crisis, BMW witnessed considerably reduced profit margins. However, having successfully emerged from this critical period, the BMW group has benefited from impressive growth figures, with an increase of 97% in its global EBIT from 2010 to 2015. Based on the company's annual report in 2015, BMW had a sales volume of 2,247,485 units for its automotive segment and 136,963 for its motorcycle segment, an overall increase of 6.3 percent from the previous year. With a global workforce of 122,244, BMW also ranked first in Forbes list of best employers in the automotive industry in 2015. Through an expansion of the company's product range within the various vehicle segments, BMW's CEO, Norbert Reithofer, states that their objective is to reach annual sales of 1.8 million by 2012 and by 2020 an outstanding figure of 2 million vehicles. These objectives represent the necessary figures to ensure the group's long term growth and to preserve their reputation as the world's leading manufacturer of premium automobiles in terms of retail. [ CITATION Nor07 l 2057 ].
Topic 1: Motivation and Values .
In order to comprehend how the BMW group has achieved its global success we must consider their customer group's underlining motives to purchase their products.
