Looking Back: Auto Bavaria and BMW

This advertisement is very rare; in fact, it only appeared in one publication once and that was the official guidebook of the 1990 KL International Motor Show. Auto Bavaria was one of the exhibitors who had special advertisements done just for the publication.

In 1990, Auto Bavaria was in its second year of operations, having taken over the BMW franchise from BMW Concessionaires in 1988. Auto Bavaria was a division in Tractors Malaysia, which by then had become a subsidiary of Sime Darby. Eventually, after various changes in the Sime Darby Group, Auto Bavaria would become a unit in the Sime Darby Motor Group which is now Sime Motors.

As the text in the advertisement suggests, Auto Bavaria was still fairly new in the market so it was making efforts to assure customers and owners of its commitment to the business and to provide the best customer services.

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Under Auto Bavaria, the German brand’s share grew and the models assembled locally also increased, with the 7-Series also being assembled at the AMI plant in Selangor. The brand development by Auto Bavaria set the stage for the time when BMW AG decided that the Malaysian market was big enough for it to come in and be directly involved in the business.

In 2003, BMW Group Malaysia was established to manage all aspects of the BMW business in the country, while Auto Bavaria became its largest dealer group.

20 years of BMW Group in Malaysia

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