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Absorption by BMW
In 1962 BMW released the
BMW 1500. The popular four-door compact's success exhausted the production capacity of the
Munich plant. In 1966 the management decided to buy Glas and absorb the Glas model line.
[2] Most of Glas' existing lineup was retired, while some models ended up being badged as BMWs until the company was fully absorbed. It was reputed that the acquisition was mainly to gain access to Glas' development of the timing belt with an overhead camshaft in automotive applications,
[3] although some saw Glas' Dingolfing plant as another incentive. However, this factory was outmoded and BMW's biggest immediate gain was, according to themselves, a stock of highly qualified engineers and other personnel.
[4] The Glas factory began the manufacture of BMW front and rear axles until they could be modernized and fully incorporated into BMW.
[5]
BMW immediately retired most of the Glas range, including all of the outdated microcars.
Changes under BMW
- The 04-type, the GT and the 1700 sedan were given BMW badges in the last year of their production.
- The GT was reengineered and so it was built with a BMW engine and rear axle and sold as BMW 1600 GT until 1968.
- The V8 got a bigger engine constructed by Glas and was also sold until 1968 as BMW-GLAS 3000 V8.
- The 1700 sedan was built and sold by a South African importer with several changes as BMW 1800 SA until 1974.
- The Goggomobil T300, T400, T400 Coupé (renamed Sport), Glas Isar T700 and the Glas 1204 were licensed for manufacture in Argentina during the 1960s.[6]
Closure
In the late 1960s BMW shut down Glas and built entirely new production facilities, which would eventually become an important production site. In June 1969, the final Glas vehicle, a Goggomobil, rolled off the production line. As of 2008,
BMW's Dingolfing branch is BMW's largest factory, with 22,000 workers producing
5,
6 and
7 Series cars and as well as bodies for
Rolls-Royce.
