The BMW Group, is a German multinational manufacturer of luxury vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. The company was founded in 1916 as a manufacturer of aircraft engines, which it produced from 1917 to 1918 and again from 1933 to 1945 creating engines for aircraft that were used in the Second World War.
Konica Minolta, Inc. is a Japanese multinational technology company headquartered in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, with offices in 49 countries worldwide. The company manufactures business and industrial imaging products, including copiers, laser printers, multi-functional peripherals (MFPs) and digital print systems for the production printing market. Konica Minolta's Managed Print Service (MPS) is called Optimised Print Services. The company also makes optical devices, including lenses and LCD film; medical and graphic imaging products, such as X-ray image processing systems, colour proofing systems, and X-ray film; photometers, 3-D digitizers, and other sensing products; and textile printers. It once had camera and photo operations inherited from Konica and Minolta but they were sold in 2006 to Sony, with Sony's Alpha series being the successor SLR division brand.
The BMW 3 Series is a line of compact executive cars manufactured by the German automaker BMW since May 1975. It is the successor to the 02 Series and has been produced in seven generations.
Minolta Co., Ltd. was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta Co., Ltd., which is also known simply as Minolta, was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as Nichi-Doku Shashinki Shōten. It made the first integrated autofocus 35 mm SLR camera system. In 1931, the company adopted its final name, an acronym for "Mechanism, Instruments, Optics, and Lenses by Tashima".
The BMW 3 Series (E46) is the fourth generation of the BMW 3 Series range of compact executive cars manufactured by German automaker BMW. Produced from 1997 to 2006, it was the successor to the E36 3 Series, which ceased production in 2000. It was introduced in November 1997, and available in sedan, coupé, convertible, station wagon and hatchback body styles. The latter has been marketed as the 3 Series Compact.
The BMW E53 is the first generation BMW X5 mid-size luxury crossover SUV. The vehicle was the first SUV ever produced by BMW. It was produced between 1999 and 2006 and was replaced by the E70 X5.
The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. M3 models have been produced for every generation of 3 Series since the E30 M3 was introduced in 1986.
BMW M GmbH, formerly known as BMW Motorsport GmbH, is a subsidiary of BMW AG that manufactures performance cars.
The BMW 3 Series Compact is a car which was produced from 1994 through 2004 by BMW. It is a 3-door hatchback version of the BMW 3 Series through two generations, for the E36 platform in 1993 and E46 platform in 2001. Unlike most hatchback competitors which were transverse engine front-wheel drive, the 3 Series Compact uses the longitudinal engine rear-wheel drive layout.
Sony α is a brand of digital camera. This line has been active since 2006, building upon the Konica Minolta camera technologies, whose assets were acquired by Sony.
Henrik Fisker is a Danish automotive designer and entrepreneur based in Los Angeles, California, US. He is best known as the founder of Fisker Automotive and Fisker Inc, and as a designer of luxury cars. After working at BMW, Ford, and Aston Martin, Fisker founded Fisker Automotive in 2007. The company failed to meet production deadlines despite significant federal and private investment. Fisker resigned in 2013. The New York Times described the company as the "Solyndra of the electric car industry" and a "debacle". He is currently the CEO of Fisker Inc., which he co-founded with his wife in 2016; the company filed for bankruptcy in 2024.
The official founding date of the German motor vehicle manufacturer BMW is 7 March 1916, when an aircraft producer called Bayerische Flugzeugwerke was established. This company was renamed to Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) in 1922. However, the BMW name dates back to 1917, when Rapp Motorenwerke changed its name to Bayerische Motoren Werke. BMW's first product was a straight-six aircraft engine called the BMW IIIa. Following the end of World War I, BMW remained in business by producing motorcycle engines, farm equipment, household items and railway brakes.
The 420G is a 6-speed manual transmission manufactured by Getrag. It is designed for longitudinal engine applications and for use on engines producing up to 499 N⋅m (368 lb⋅ft) of torque.
Adrian van Hooydonk, is a Dutch automobile designer and BMW Group's Design Director. He is based in Munich, Germany.
Charles Whipple Pelly, commonly Chuck Pelly, is an American industrial designer. Pelly is best known for founding the global design consultancy DesignworksUSA.
Anders Warming is a Danish automotive designer who is the Director of Design at Rolls-Royce. He started his new job in July 2021. Formerly he has been the Chief Design Officer of Borgward. He was the chief of Design for the Mini division of BMW, but resigned in July 2016. Many 1st and 2nd Generation Mini owners disliked his styling approach for the third generation cars. The most often criticized design element was the front end, something many people called a 'fish mouth' due to its large oval grille and lip-like black plastic trim. Before working at Mini, he was the chief of exterior design for BMW from 2007 to the end of 2010. After leaving Mini, he joined Borgward and later started his own design firm. In 2020, he was invited to draw Hengchi 1,2 and 4, which the cars going to be produced next year. Hengchi is the brand of China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group Limited
5HP is ZF Friedrichshafen AG's trademark name for its 5-speed automatic transmission models for longitudinal engine applications, designed and built by ZF's subsidiary in Saarbrücken.
The BMW E31 is the first generation of the BMW 8 Series. It is a grand tourer built by BMW from 1990 to 1999 as a 2-door coupé, powered by either a V8 or V12 engine. Whilst it did supplant the original E24 based 6 Series in 1990, it was not a direct successor, but a new model class with a substantially higher price and performance than the 6 Series.
Richard Kim is a Korean-American car designer, known for his work on the BMW i3 and i8 electric cars. He joined Canoo in 2017 as Chief Design Officer and Co-Founder.
Ian Cameron was a British car designer, most notable for his time with Rolls Royce following its purchase by BMW.
