BMW 2012 Annual Report Download - page 34

34
18 COMBINED GROUP AND COMPANY
MANAGEMENT REPORT
18 A Review of the Financial Year
21 General Economic Environment
24 Review of Operations
24 Automotive segment
30 Motorcycles segment
31 Financial Services segment
33 Research and development
36 Purchasing
37 Sales and Marketing
39 Workforce
41 Sustainability
44 BMW Stock and Capital Market
47 Disclosures relevant for takeovers
and explanatory comments
50 Financial Analysis
65 Internal Control System and
explanatory comments
66 Risk Management
74 Outlook
We have also made improvements to our hybrid tech-
nology and are currently offering BMW ActiveHybrid
technology for the models BMW ActiveHybrid 7,
BMW
ActiveHybrid 5 and BMW ActiveHybrid 3. The
power for the electrically driven features in these
vehicles is largely generated by the Brake Energy Re-
generation system.
Further progress was also made in the field of light-
weight construction during the period under report.
Current examples are bumper brackets made of
aluminium and instrument panel supports of magne-
sium.
BMW ConnectedDrive: innovations for
connected mobility
Connected Drive stands for forward-looking vehicle
concepts and technologies. New functions demon-
strate
the innovation leadership of the BMW Group
when it comes to the connectedness of the driver, the
vehicle and the environment.
The latest generation of our navigation system is equipped
with a three-dimensional graphic visualisation that
includes additional functions as well as an optimised
display and operating concept. The new dictation func-
tion with speech-text entry enables the driver to dictate
texts for e-mails and SMS text messages. Moreover, in
2012 the BMW Group became the first carmaker world-
wide to offer high-speed Internet functionality in a
vehicle. The LTE standard forms the interface between
the user’s mobile end device and the Internet.
Since August 2012 the My BMW Remote app has also
been available for smartphones with Android operating
systems. My BMW Remote enables BMW owners to ac-
tivate
numerous practical functions of their vehicle re-
motely, such as doors to be locked and unlocked. In
addi-
tion, users of BMW ConnectedDrive and MINI Connected
now
have new apps designed to enhance the range of in-
formation and entertainment available within the vehicle.
BMW i3 Concept Coupé and i8 Concept Spyder
celebrate world premiere
In April 2012 the BMW i8 Concept Spyder celebrated
its world premiere at the Shanghai Motor Show. In
June we demonstrated the use of regenerative materials
for vehicle interiors based on the BMW i3 Concept. The
BMW i3 Concept Coupé was presented in Los Angeles
in November. As well as providing an opportunity to
preview the design of a model nearing series production,
the complete connectedness of this vehicle with the
outside world was in the spotlight.
In order to offer customers the BMW i3 and i8 complete
with electricity from fully renewable sources, in 2012
the BMW Group entered into a strategic cooperation
with NATURSTROM AG. In a further step towards the
complete automation of CFRP production, cooperation
arrangements with the aircraft manufacturer Boeing
were announced in December 2012, the main points of
which are research into the recycling of carbon fibres
and the automation of production processes. We also
entered into strategic partnerships during the year un-
der report with a view to establishing efficient,
cus-
tomer-friendly wallboxes in the garages of BMW i3 and
i8 owners.
Research project enables cars and motorcycles to
communicate with each other
Numerous companies from the automotive and tele-
communications industries, the government of the Ger-
man state of Hesse and the city of Frankfurt am Main
as well as various universities and scientific institutions
have united in the research project “Sichere Intelligente
Mobilität – Testfeld Deutschland (simTD)”. Their joint
aim is to test the functionality, suitability for everyday
use and effectiveness of car-to-X communication for the
first time under real conditions. After four years of re-
search work, the field trial commenced in October 2012
with over 120 vehicles. The BMW Group is the only pro-
ject partner taking part in the field trial with both cars
and motorcycles. The simTD project is testing various
driver assistance systems based on car-to-X communi-
cation methods for BMW Group cars and motorcycles.
For example, traffic
light systems can transmit informa-
tion about their
switching times to enable a driver assis-
tance system to
either pass on information regarding the
optimum
speed for a personal “green wave” or warn
about the imminent danger of going through a red light
(traffic light phase assistant). A specific transfer of
data describing
the traffic situation, the condition of
the road surface and further factors makes it possible to
relay early warnings of accidents (obstacle warning),
traffic jams (end-of-jam warning) or the formation of
black ice (road weather warning) from one vehicle to
other motorists in
the vicinity. Additionally, based on
the vehicle data transferred, it is possible to calculate the
risk of a collision, enabling warnings to be transmitted
about the risk of collision at crossings (cross-traffic as-
sistant). Further
car-to-X functions in the simTD re-
search project are the
warning for emergency vehicles,
the electronic brake light and the road sign assistant.
Moreover, the test vehicles supply the data necessary to
improve traffic management. In this way, traffic jams
can be anticipated, CO2 emissions can be reduced and
waiting times at traffic lights minimised.