BMW Technick GmbH was set up as a think tank specifically released from the obligation to create products for volume production.  Free from the constraints of everyday routine, it brings together some of BMW's best designers, engineers and technicians in realizing ideas and concepts for BMW vehicles of the future.  One of the first major projects of BMW Technik GmbH was the Z1 Roadster, which went into small-scale production in 1988.

 

In order to expand rapidly and gain a presence in market segments in which it had not previously been involved, BMW purchased the British-based Rover Group, with the active brands Rover, Land Rover, MINI and MG.  In addition to modernizing the plant, the task for the next few years was to rejuvinate the product lines.