BMW 2008 Annual Report Download - page 37

38
14 Group Management Report
14 A Review of the Financial Year
16 General Economic Environment
20 Review of Operations
42 BMW Stock and Bonds
45 Disclosures pursuant to § 289 (4)
and § 315 (4) HGB
47 Financial Analysis
47 Internal Management System
49 Earnings Performance
51 Financial Position
52 Net Assets Position
55 Subsequent Events Report
55 Value Added Statement
57 Key Performance Figures
58 Comments on BMW AG
62 Risk Management
68 Outlook
system has been expanded to include a Pedestrian De-
tection system, which identifies persons via camera and
warns the driver of dangerous situations by displaying sym-
bols in the control display. The biggest benefit of BMW
Night Vision comes at night on unlit country roads where
restricted visibility in conjunction with high speeds creates
a higher risk of accident. Persons are identified within a
distance of approximately  metres. Depending on the
speed of the car, the driver is warned. The system also
gives a warning when persons approach the road from the
side.
Research into future mobility
Vehicle networking is the basis for future driver assistance
systems. The main focus for the BMW Group, apart from
achieving greater comfort, is on enhancing the driver’s con-
trol over the situation and increasing the safety of all road
users. Within the international forum of the CAR 2 CAR
Communication Consortium, European manufacturers are
working on inter-vehicle communication independent of
vehicle type. For its part, the BMW Group is showing how
the BMW cars and motorcycles in the future will be capable
of communicating with vehicles of other manufacturers.
Cars will be interlinked with each other via wireless LAN
radio contact and able to exchange data with road infra-
structure such as traffic lights and road signs. This will en-
able car drivers to be informed immediately and in good
time of potentially dangerous road traffic situations. The
system can help to avoid accidents or reduce their effects,
particularly in situations such as tail-ends of traffic jams,
road works, accident scenes or slippery road surfaces.
In order to exploit the full potential of Car-to-X communi-
cation systems with blanket coverage, two preconditions
must be met: a joint technological base of operations to
determine interface standards and a uniform radio fre-
quency. A major milestone has been achieved in terms
of standardisation following the recent activation of the
. GHz European frequency band for Car-to-X communi-
cation applications (similar to those already existing in the
USA and in Japan).
Numerous awards for BMW Group’s development
work
The BMW Group’s research and innovation network again
underlined its strength in , receiving numerous awards
for its development work. In March  a panel of inter-
national automotive journalists voted the BMW 118d as
the “World Green Car of the Year”. The award, which was
presented during the New York International Auto Show,
pays tribute to vehicles and technologies that make a
measurable contribution to the reduction of emissions
symbolising the outstanding environmental awareness
of the relevant manufacturer. The recognition gained by
the BMW 118d can be largely attributed to the Efficient
Dynamics package.
In May  the BMW Group won the “International Engine
of the Year” award for the fourth successive year. The title
was awarded to the .-litre twin-turbo petrol engine, which,
as in the previous year, not only won the overall award, but
also the . to .-litre engine category. In total, the BMW
Group came first in six of twelve categories, second in a
further six categories and third in one category. The BMW
Group was therefore, yet again, the most successful com-
pany in this engine competition, which is now in its tenth
year.
In September the BMW Group won the ÖkoGlobe 
awarded by DEVK, the ACV Automobile Club and the
Center Automotive Research of the University of Gelsen-
kirchen in the category “Enhancement of the Combustion
Engine”. The award was presented for research into the
use of the thermal electric generator, which allows the
energy gained from heat loss in the combustion engine to
be re-used.
In November  the readers of Europe’s largest Sunday
newspaper, “Bild am Sonntag”, chose the BMW 1 Series
Coupé as the best new vehicle in the coupé class in .
The BMW Group was presented with the Golden Steering
Wheel for this achievement.