Page Overview: BMW Group - Innovation - Company

Company

One company, one vision: to create innovations.

Ever since the company was founded, innovation has been one of the main success factors for the BMW Group. Focusing on the future is an integral part of the company’s identity and its day-to-day work and the basis of our business success.

Innovation from a company perspective.

Robotics in the battery cell competence centre in Munich.
Winners of the BMW Supplier Innovation Award 2014.
Logo of the BMW Startup Garage.

Innovations within the company: current developments.

From small production aids to new products: The BMW Group’s innovations underline its role as a pioneer. Read about the latest developments here.

aerial view of an intersection

As a HERE stakeholder, the BMW Group is forging ahead with the digitalisation of mobility. HERE combines high-definition maps with local information and provides vehicles with a detailed up-to-the-minute representation of the real world. These functions play a key role in the continuing development of highly-automated driving.

An employee at the Additive Manufacturing Campus operates a 3D printer

The BMW Group continues to expand its leading role in the use of additive manufacturing technology. In 2019, the company additively manufactured around 300,000 parts. As well as producing prototype and standard parts, the new Additive Manufacturing Campus near Munich also conducts research into new 3D printing technologies and trains staff under the same roof. The BMW Group has been using additive manufacturing for almost 30 years.

VR goggles being used in a car dummy

Virtual reality will be an integral part of many developer workplaces in the future, based on a mixed-reality system developed from components used in the gaming industry and now deployed for the first time in the automotive industry by the BMW Group. This will open up entirely new opportunities for developers, including fully simulated city drive-throughs to test the panoramic view of the surroundings.

A DriveNow vehicle being opened with a credit card.

The new BMW and MINI credit cards combine all the benefits of state-of-the-art payment technologies with BMW mobility services.

Using innovative close-range communications technology, the card becomes the key for unlocking cars in the DriveNow car-sharing fleet. When the card is held near the sensor in the windscreen, the system identifies the user and unlocks the vehicle. No additional card or smartphone is needed.