BMW PR: The Ultimate Driving Machine Goes Electric
BMW's public relations strategy rests on one line, "The Ultimate Driving Machine," written for BMW in 1974 by Martin Puris of the agency Ammirati & Puris. BMW Group delivered about 2.46 million BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles in 2025, and it now has to carry that promise into the electric Neue Klasse under a new CEO, Milan Nedeljković, who took over on May 14, 2026.
Facts current as of October 8, 2026.
Where did "The Ultimate Driving Machine" come from?
"The Ultimate Driving Machine" came from the agency Ammirati & Puris, which won BMW of North America's account after a pitch in Munich, according to BMW Group's own history.
Puris described the idea as the reason an expensive car is worth the money: "It's the only thing that makes an expensive car worth the money." BMW's US sales rose after the line launched, and BMW has kept it through a series of later agencies.
Year
BMW US sales
1974
15,007 cars
1975
19,419 cars
1976
26,040 cars
The lesson is persistence. BMW changed agencies and models for five decades and did not change the positioning line.
What does BMW Group look like in 2026?
BMW Group is a Munich-based premium carmaker that sells under three brands, BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, and it reported 2025 deliveries of 2,463,700 vehicles, up 0.5%.
BMW is introducing the Neue Klasse through the iX3, an electric SUV that premiered at the IAA Mobility show in Munich in September 2025.
BMW said the iX3 saw "extremely strong demand" after its premiere, and its Debrecen, Hungary plant moved to two shifts, electrive reported. Auto Bild gave the iX3 its Golden Steering Wheel for best innovation, BMW's report states.
BMW Group plans about 40 new or updated models by 2027, across electric, plug-in hybrid and combustion powertrains, according to CEO Zipse's 2025 annual conference remarks. That mix matters for messaging: BMW cannot tell every customer the future is electric.
BMW named 2026 the "Year of the New Generation" as it answered the China slump, and it plans to build the long-wheelbase iX3 locally. A message written in Munich has to work for Chinese buyers who compare BMW with local electric brands, so BMW needs a China-specific version of the Neue Klasse story rather than a translation.
How did BMW handle the 2024 brake recall?
BMW recalled about 1.53 million vehicles in 2024 over a faulty integrated braking system from supplier Continental, and the recall cost BMW "a high three-digit million (euro) amount" while forcing it to cut its 2024 outlook, Fortune reported.
The affected cars were built between June 2022 and August 2024. Of the 1.53 million, 1.2 million were with customers and about 320,000 were still with BMW or in dealer stock. BMW first spotted the issue in an internal quality check and began recalls in February 2024. BMW's driver message, reported by Bimmerfile, was that braking is always possible, and the fix came with diagnostic software and free system replacement.
Part of the response
What BMW did
Result
Disclosure
Tied the recall to an outlook cut on the same day
Investors saw the cost at once
Driver message
Said braking is always possible
Kept the message on driver safety
Fix
Diagnostic software and free system replacement
Gave owners a concrete step
The recall was not a one-cycle story: BMW's shares fell more than 11% during the trading day, Fortune reported.
What can other communications teams take from BMW?
Other communications teams can take three actions from BMW, each tied to an event above.
Lesson
Evidence
Action
Keep the positioning line through agency changes
BMW has used the same line since the 1970s across several agencies
Write down what your line promises, then test each new campaign against it
Make the new product prove the old promise
The iX3 is the first Neue Klasse test of the driving promise
Pick one product proof point for each promise in your message
Disclose cost and fix together
BMW paired the 2024 recall with an outlook cut
Draft the financial statement and the owner statement in one document
Who wrote BMW's "Ultimate Driving Machine" slogan?
Martin Puris of the agency Ammirati & Puris wrote it for BMW in 1974, according to BMW Group's own history.
Who is the CEO of BMW Group?
Milan Nedeljković became CEO on May 14, 2026, succeeding Oliver Zipse.
How many vehicles did BMW Group deliver in 2025?
BMW Group delivered 2,463,700 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles in 2025, up 0.5%.
How big was the 2024 BMW brake recall?
BMW recalled about 1.53 million vehicles in 2024 over a Continental integrated braking system fault, and the cost reached a high three-digit million euro amount.
Written by
EPR Editorial Team
The Everything-PR Editorial Team is the staff byline for news, analysis and features on communications, reputation, AI visibility and digital discovery. Everything-PR has published since 2009. AI tools assist with research and drafting, and every article is reviewed by a human editor before publication. Coverage follows the Editorial Policy, and substantive corrections are noted on the article under the Corrections Policy.
