“BMW Group Thailand’s sweeping thirteen victories from the prestigious Car & Bike of the Year 2019 awards is yet another solid indicator of our success, branching out beyond our recent business milestone where we set new deliveries record for all three brands with BMW Thailand achieving highest growth rate across global network for the second consecutive year. These achievements reflect the customers’ confidence in our world-class products and our potential in being a leader in global luxury car market” said Mr. Christian Wiedmann, President, BMW Group Thailand.

The Car & Bike of the Year 2019 awards, one of the most prestigious awards for automobile manufacturers in Thailand, is held annually by Grand Prix International PCL – the founder and organizer of the Bangkok International Motor Show. The awards seek to honor outstanding vehicles that make major contributions to the advancement of Thailand’s automotive industry in terms of technology and innovation, design, and manufacturing. This year, a total of 132 cars and 70 motorcycles were tested and evaluated by a panel of judges comprising respected motoring journalists from the Thai Automotive Journalists Association, committee from the Society of Automotive Engineers, leading research institutes of Thai universities as well as independent bike testers.

The panel of judges for the Car of the Year 2019 awards based their decision on a set of criteria divided into two major aspects. Firstly, participating vehicles would be considered for their performance, efficiency, safety, innovation, environmental impact, and design. Secondly, each vehicle underwent test drive sessions on a closed track with challenges designed to assess their real-world qualities – including steering precision, suspension performance, engine output, torque level and acceleration from 0 to 80km/h.

For the Bike of the Year 2019 awards, vehicles are nominated across two categories – mass market (sub-250cc engine) and big bike, which comprises light weight (sub-499cc engine), middle weight, (sub-799cc engine), and heavy weight (800cc or bigger engine). The final results were based on an average of scores from independent test riders, and members of the motoring press.

The 13 Car & Bike of the Year 2019 awards won by BMW, MINI and BMW Motorrad are as follows:
 

The BMW Group
With its four brands BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the BMW Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial and mobility services. The BMW Group production network comprises 30 production and assembly facilities in 14 countries; the company has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2018, the BMW Group sold over 2,490,000 passenger vehicles and more than 165,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax in the financial year 2017 was € 10.655 billion on revenues amounting to € 98.678 billion. As of 31 December 2017, the BMW Group had a workforce of 129,932 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain, comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.

BMW Group Thailand
BMW Group Thailand, a subsidiary of BMW AG, Germany, was established on the 3rd October 1998. The three entities of BMW Group Thailand include BMW (Thailand) Co., Ltd. with responsibility for wholesales & marketing of BMW Group products, BMW Manufacturing (Thailand) Co., Ltd. with responsibility for BMW and BMW Motorrad local production, and BMW Leasing (Thailand) Co., Ltd. with responsibility for financial services offerings to both wholesale and retail customers.

In 2018, BMW Group Thailand has reached the new all-time highs with 12,036 BMW deliveries, representing a 20% increase year-on-year and the highest growth rate across BMW’s global networks for the second consecutive year. The sales of BMW plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) also achieved a record-high growth rate of 122% in Thailand over the past year. While MINI and BMW Motorrad also achieved the new record in sales with 1,051 vehicles MINI deliveries (growing sales by 4% year-on-year) and 2,154 BMW Motorcycles deliveries (growing sales by 8% year-on-year).

On the production side, the BMW Group Manufacturing Thailand plant was founded on BMW Group’s strong belief in the growth potential of Asian markets and Thailand in particular with its unique location, strong manufacturing base, and ready supply of skilled automotive labor, being an automotive hub for ASEAN. On-going investment has been put into the expansion of plant Rayong in terms of assembling processes, aiming to meet growing customer demand. In addition, with approximately 4 billion Thai Baht representing the amount of annual purchasing in Thailand, the BMW Global Purchasing office has been established in Thailand. This is to source various components from local suppliers in Thailand and the broader ASEAN region, in order to supply the entire BMW production network of 30 production and assembly facilities, located in 14 countries worldwide.

BMW Group Manufacturing Thailand produces the following 12 models: BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo, BMW 5 Series, BMW 7 Series, BMW X1, and BMW X3. For BMW Motorrad, the BMW F 750 GS, BMW F 850 GS, BMW R 1200 GS, BMW R 1200 GS Adventure, BMW S 1000 R, BMW S 1000 RR and BMW S 1000 XR are also locally assembled at the plant. In addition, BMW Group Manufacturing Thailand now assembles two BMW plug-in hybrid models; BMW 530e and BMW 740Le.

For further information, please contact:
BMW Group Thailand
1-800-269-269
www.bmw.co.th
www.mini.co.th
www.bmw-motorrad.co.th

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