The company which boasts that it produces "The Ultimate Driving Machine" has established a reputation for engineering excellence since it began life in 1916 as an aircraft-engine factory in Munich. It is now a £12 billion company, having acquired Rover more than four years ago and adding brands like the LandRover, the Mini and the MG.

The Quandt family controls 49 per cent of BMW which is headed by the wily Mr Bernd Pischetsrider, who recently outmanoeuvred his Volkswagen rival Mr Piech by snaffling the rights to the famous Rolls Royce car name for £40 million when VW thought it was buying Rolls Royce and Bentley lock, stock and barrel for 10 times as much.

Mr Pischetsrider has also announced plans to move into the smaller end of the car market, the Bavarian company's biggest change in director for a generation. He plans to spend billions of euros developing two small cars, to be made by Rover, to compete with VW's Golf and Polo, a move that could make or break both firms.