Sustainability for BMW in the Year 2054 - Essay Example

Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) is a German automobile, engine manufacturing company that was founded in the year 1916. The company is headquartered in Bavaria in Germany and has over the years increased its manufacturing capacity to around 2,000,000 vehicles in the year 2013. The automotive industry can be described as the largest of all the multinationals. In fact, it is a key indicator when it comes to economic growth, and it can be described as a major contributor the gross domestic product of several member states as well as EU. On the global level, the assets of the top ten multinational automotive enterprises that often represent 28% of the assets of the world’s top 50 companies. In fact, in the year 1999, four of the world’s ten largest companies belonged to the automotive sector (Clifton 2000, pg 34). In the year 2008, even when America argued about renewable energy and saw it as a fantasy, Germany at the time generated around 14.2% of their electrical power from renewable sources. The country has often been quoted as a leading player in clean technology, and the mix of environmentally friendly technologies. Germany seems to be at the epicenter of the world’s next big industrial revolution, which is the triumph of cheap, clean and sustainable electricity. Therefore, major companies such as BMW and Mercedes have been able to follow suit in the country’s footsteps in Green energy. BMW has been on the leader board of Group Dow Jones sustainability index for the 8th consecutive year. This, therefore, confirms that since the year 2005, BMW has been the world’s most sustainable premium automobile manufacturer. This is intended to continue into the year 2054 because of the fact that the company is an innovative and sustainability is one of its key especially when it comes to innovation. The influence of the country’s policies will also go a long way in ensuring that BMW remains environmentally friendly and sustainable. The future of BMW is bright; the company has been using words such as autonomous as well as electric to describe the characteristic of its cars in the future. The automobile in the year 2050 will automatically be self-driving; BMW has been working on a concept of allowing drivers to cruise along the highways without driver interference. This will be one of the key that will be seen on the roads in the year 2054. Cars will probably need that drivers observe that the motor vehicle does not toggle from one mode to the other, and this can be changed from main road driving to metropolis driving. Using this advanced technique, one can be able to easily make it to the destination and the car can be able to park itself in a elevated tech parking arrangement. It is imperative to note that with this type of hands-free driving, driving is more likely to get a lot safer (this is because human mistakes still accounts for the greater part of all the accidents) and it can also be more efficient, centralized traffic control which can direct to a smoother run as well as less congestion (Rosengarten, 2006 pg 38). However, it is imperative to note that that in effect with technology; one could have been widely rolled out. If the car is to be autonomous, there is also a need for the road to be equipped with wireless communication sensors, further every other car in the road will be communicating its exact GPS location as well as LIDAR (Light detection and ranging) sensors on obstructions. Therefore, one can be able to sit back and relax while the car drives. In the year 2054, BMW cars will understand the drivers cognitive as well as emotional load at all times and control what types of information as well as how much of it can be consumed by the driver at a given time. The car will be able to self organize as well as optimize traffic flow that will result into minimize congestion, increase productivity and reduce pollution. In addition to the cars driving themselves on their own, the future BMW cars will also run on just about anything. This includes solar panels, electric powers, pneumatic energy or even what BMW future team described as ultra capacitor which can be described as souped capacitor. Alternative fuels will be a commonplace in the year 2054; in fact, the cars will have the capability of running on multiple fuel sources. This has already started with BMW producing designs for future cars that use electric power, gas, and even solar panels on the roof. When it comes to force, the photovoltaic panels will be able to provide enough power to run the different vets. NASA has been working in co-ordination with BMW in an ongoing project in order to figure out how to beam energy down from space collectors, there is a possibility that all cars would collect energy from space and transmitted in the same way. The trick will be the conversion of the existing infrastructure into the complete servicing of these new power sources. Hydrogen can be described as an ideal fuel and BMW has often quoted that it is poised to be the next major alternative fuel. When scientists needed a fuel that would go for long distances they turned to hydrogen in order to power NASA’s Apollo missions. Hydrogen is often a gas under normal conditions, it is often compressed under high pressure in a similar way to the way liquid Petroleum gas (LPG) is often compressed. The hydrogen fuel cells are similar to batteries, and like batteries they often generate electricity meaning that any cars that runs of a fuel cells is actually an electric car. Further, like common fuel cells, there is the mixture of two chemicals in order to react and produce an electric current. In case of hydrogen fuel cell, the chemicals that are reacted are hydrogen and atmospheric oxygen. They react to produce water, BMW has been able to develop concept cars based on hydrogen and in the next 50 years this seems to be the way to go for the BMW car. Another alternative fuel that can be used will be electricity. Electricity is not new, however, modern science has been able to find interesting as well as eco-friendly uses of it. Electric vehicles can be described as eco-friendly this is because they do not produce tailpipe emissions. The generators that produce electricity to charge the EV batteries emit pollutants, however, these pollutants are often considered to be minimal when they are compared to the usage of gas. In the year 2012, there were over 5 million full electric vehicles and this number is considered to increase well into the future. The cars will get efficient in the future and therefore, in the next 50 years all the cars that exist in the world might all be electrical. Carbon-fiber shells often constitutes indestructible material, this is the same material that has been used for fishing rods, sunglasses as well as coffee mugs (Church, 1995, pg 34). In fact, carbon fiber is around five times as strong as steel and around three times as stiff. It further weighs a third less that steel. Carbon fiber can be described as very thin strands of carbon, probably thinner than human hair (Sudjic, 2006 pg 48). These strands can be twisted together and interwoven in order to make carbon fiber into a permanent shape. In fact, currently most car components are often made of steel, and replacing steel components with carbon fiber would help reduce weight of most cars by around 60%. The 60% drop in weight would reduce the car’s fuel consumption by around 30% and consequently cut down greenhouse gas as well as other emissions by 10 to 20%. In fact, currently, Formulae one race cars often use carbon fiber, something that is all about safety as compared to performance (McCarthy, 2007, pg 29). BMW announced that two concept cars, the i8 and the i3 will be made from carbon fiber materials. In fact, the company can be said to be very serious with the production schedule given the fact that the car company has built a carbon-fiber plant in Moses Lake in Washington. This is the area that will be used to build a future production area for BMW. The entire vehicle will be made from carbon fiber as well as reinforced steel. The idea behind the carbon fiber is the fact that the future cars would be virtually indestructible. This combined with other safety features that would be able to scan the roadway looking for potential hazards, airbags housed In each and every conceivable corner of the car, and pre-collision technologies that make the vehicle swerve will make accidents a distant memory. In the year 2054, there will be emerging, social and economic issues which might put the idea of sustainability into the limelight. One of the things that might affect car manufactures is increased regulatory social pressures as a result of depletion of oil resources. In the year 2054, there will be heightened concerns over environmental degradation and companies that are not sustainable would be snubbed by the public or even fined heavily. Therefore, companies in the automotive industry will strive to become leaders when it comes to the development of vehicles that are fuel efficient and that emit less pollution in order for the long term value of companies to be sustainable. BMW understands that it needs to anticipate societal change and therefore, it intends to act accordingly in order to take advantage of the societal change (Kiley, 2004 pg 35). As a result, the company has put itself in the front foot in order to seek out competitive advantage when it comes to shaping of markets as well as the creation of new products as well as services. Further, in the year 2054, it is expected that there will be tougher regulations and legislations passed on environmental conservation. Therefore, companies that go ahead and perform better in the regulatory standards will be affected less as compared to their competition. This is especially the case with BMW who have been a key leader in sustainability over the years. The fact that the company has been designing future model cars that are sustainable; this shows that the company is indeed dedicated towards achieving sustainability and environmental conservation. Lastly, there will also be financial advantages when it comes to having green strategies in the year 2054. This is because the company will be able to reduce costs through the ecological efficiency by conserving energy, eliminating wastes, addressing life-cycle as well as re-using materials. Further, the company can also increase its revenues dramatically by using an environmental focus in order to add value to its products. This in turn will create what can be described as unique inimitable environmental strategies and thus distinguishing the company and making them to be environmental leaders in the eyes of the public. In conclusion, BMW has been at the forefront of creating blueprints of how cars will be in the next 50 years. The company has come up with ground breaking ideas of how the industry can be changed in order to be more sustainable, this comes from the use of alternative energy to the use of carbon in making of the body of the automobiles. This is an important step in sustainability and consequently it should be furthered. In the year 2054, public concern about sustainability of the planet will cause environmental crisis to rise to the top of political agenda. The public opinion as well as governments alone will not be able to undertake sustainable development without the proper contribution of the business world. In fact, companies’ anticipation of environmental regulation and co-operation with governments will lead to policies that are conducive to sustainability. BMW has demonstrated that it is flexible in its ability to react to the changing regulatory atmosphere in order to be valued higher. This is expected to continue well into the next 50 years and consequently, regardless of the sustainable technology that the company will use, it will be able to make profits and at the same time preserving the world for current as well as future generations. Reference List Church, R. A. (1995). The rise and decline of the British motor industry. Cambridge [u.a.: Cambridge Univ. Press. Kiley, D. (2004). Driven: Inside BMW, the most admired car company in the world. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley. Ries, A. (1996). Focus: The future of your company depends on it. New York: HarperBusiness. CNBC (Television network), Films for the Humanities & Sciences (Firm), & Films Media Group. (2011). BMW: A driving obsession. New York, N.Y: Films Media Group. Clifton, R., & Maughan, E. (2000). The future of brands: Twenty-five visions. New York: New York University Press. Rosengarten, P. G., & Stürmer, C. B. (2006). Premium power: The secret of success of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche and Audi. 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