With a foot in the engine business again, in 1928, BMW once again entered the automobile industry by purchasing the Eisenach Vehicle Factory. A re-haul of the company was completed and the factory re-opened in the 1930s, producing the very first touring and sports cars for the BMW line. The most successful of these cars was the 328 sports car, which made its debut in 1936. World War II hit BMW hard, with Allied forces dismantling all major production facilities in Germany, with BMW’s factory not being spared. In an attempt to recover from the war, BMW once again ventured away from the auto industry and began making kitchen and garden tools and equipment. BMW didn’t re-enter the automobile industry until 1950, but with a poor line up, few sales were drummed up and it was thought the company would die. However, the second major re-haul of the company took place in the 1960s, with BMW offerin ga line of sports sedans and compact cars, leading them to compete directly with Mercedes-Benz.
Since this re-haul, BMW has been doing exceptionally well in both the European and US markets, but the 1980s seem to have been the peak years for the company. With luxury cars being introduced from Toyota and Lexus in 1986, a saturated market led poor sales. The toppling of the Berlin wall corrected this, with a boom in car sales occurring in Europe, with BMW riding out to the top on this wave of sales. This has been the only time in history that BMW has been able to move more cars than their rival, Mercedes-Benz.

Today, BMW mainly focuses on luxury sedans and compact touring cars, though there are a handful of BMW motorcycles available on the market. With competition rising from companies like Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, and Toyota, BMW has created a smaller class of luxury car in order to reach a broader market. Today, this line of luxury cars does just as well as the higher end luxury lines, even in the cool climate of the today’s economy.

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