BMW BLOG

For the past few weeks, a lot of people have emailed me and asked me one question: How did BMW European Delivery start?

I kept pointing them to this blog so they can read the story but I thought I would repost it again since it was first time posted in October last year. There are many different scenarios on how the BMW ED started but this particular one was very interesting and it actually came from one of the Bimmerfest.com members (yes, we don’t mind posting other website’s name or links). Please read this article and I encourage to post any questions ,that you might have, in the comments box below.

?I have concluded that the impetus for the European Delivery Programs (as we now know them)developed within West German economic planners that were desperately trying to come up with new ways to help West German economic recovery after WWII. Not only did West Germany needed to find new overseas clients for its re-emerging auto industry, but Germans needed to encourage international travel to the homeland. Of course, the principal purpose for the latter was reaping the financial benefits of tourism. Foreigners needed to know that West Germany was no longer ?bombed out? and in ruins.

They were rebuilding a flourishing tourism industry to compete with those of France, Italy and Britain for the traveling (mainly North & South American at the time) tourists. But equally important, Germans hoped that the inter-action with foreigners would help transform its international ?political? reputation after the bad press generated by the war & its ?ancien? regime. You remember the guy with the funny mustache, no? By the mid-fities, West Germany had established a thriving democracy and the government was anxious to have that fact known and experienced by as many foreigners as possible, especially Americans who held the reins of political power and wealth after WWII.”

Rest of the story here