BMW Group
What do our scores mean?
The organizational score represents the degree to which the organization influencing climate policy and legislation. Corporations also have relationship scores reflecting their links with influencers like trade associations. Both are combined to place the corporation in a performance band. Full details can be found here.
Update August 2021: If limited evidence had been collected either on a company's direct policy engagement (Organization Score) or industry association links (Relationship Score) this is signified with an ‘n/a’ (not available). If limited evidence has been collected in both areas, the Total Score is also given as n/a. Full details and links back to any primary evidence that has been collected can still be located on the company’s profile.
Engagement Intensity
The engagement intensity (EI) is a metric of the extent to which the company is engaging on climate change policy matters, whether positively or negatively. It is a number from 0 (no engagement at all) to 100 (full engagement on all queries/data points). Clearly energy companies are more affected by climate regulations and will have a higher EI than, for example retailers. So an organization’s score should be looked at in conjunction with this metric to gauge the amount of evidence we are using in each case as a basis for scoring. On our scale, an EI of more than 25 indicates a relatively large amount of climate policy engagement.
Relationship Score, December 2020
A new batch of industry associations has been uploaded onto the InfluenceMap system and the relationship scores recalculated accordingly.
Updated terminology, February 2021
We adjusted the terminology used to describe the queries running down the left-hand side of our scoring matrix and added additional explanatory text to the info-boxes. This has no impact on the scores and methodology. It has been done following user feedback to improve clarity.
- Details of Organization Score
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What do the 0,1,2 and NSs, NAs mean?
Each cell in the organization's matrix presents a chance for us to assess each data source against our column of climate change policy queries. We score from -2 to 2, with negative scores representing evidence of obstructive influence. "NA" means "not applicable" and "NS" means "not scored" - that is we did not find any evidence either way. In both cases, the cell's weighting is re-distributed over others. Red and blue cells represent highly interesting negative or positive influence respectively. Full details can be found here.
- Details of Relationship Score
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What is the Relationship Score
A corporation, as well as its organizational score will have a relationship score. It is computed by aggregating the organizational scores of the Influencers (trade bodies etc.) it has relationships with, weighted by both the strength of these relationships and the relative importance of the Influencers towards climate change policy. Full details can be found here.
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QUERIES
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DATA SOURCES | ||||||
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Main Web Site
The main organizational Web site of the company and its direct links to major affiliates and attached documents. |
Social Media
We search other media and sites funded or controlled by the organization, such as social media (Twitter, Facebook) and direct advertising campaigns of the organization. |
CDP Responses
We assess and score responses to two questions from CDP's climate change information request (12.3 a & 12.3c) related to political influence questions (currently these are not numerically scored by the CDP process). |
Legislative Consultations
Comments from the entity being scored on governmental regulatory consultation processes, including those obtained by InfluenceMap through Freedom of Information requests. |
Media Reports
Here we search in a consistent manner (the organization name and relevant query search terms) a set of web sites of representing reputable news or data aggregations. Supported by targeted searches of proprietary databases. |
CEO Messaging
Here we search in a consistent manner (the CEO/Chairman, organization name and relevant query search terms) a set of web sites of representing reputable news or data aggregations. Supported by targeted searches of proprietary databases. |
Financial Disclosures
We search 10-K and 20-F SEC filings where available, and non US equivalents where not. . |
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Communication of Climate Science
Is the organization transparent and clear about its position on climate change science? |
1
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NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NS |
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Alignment with IPCC on Climate Action
Is the organization supporting the science-based response to climate change as set out by the IPCC? (the IPCC) |
0
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1
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NA |
-1
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NS |
2
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0
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Supporting the Need for Regulations
To what extent does the organization express the need for regulatory intervention to resolve the climate crisis? |
0
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1
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NS | NS | NS | NS | NS |
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Support of UN Climate Process
Is the organization supporting the UN FCCC process on climate change? |
0
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1
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NS | NS |
1
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NS |
1
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Transparency on Legislation
Is the organisation transparent about its positions on climate change legislation/policy and its activities to influence it? |
0
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NA |
1
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NA | NA | NA | NS |
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Carbon Tax
Is the organisation supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: carbon tax. |
NS | NS |
0
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NS | NS | NS | NS |
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Emissions Trading
Is the organisation supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: emissions trading. |
NS | NS | NS | NS |
-1
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-2
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-2
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Energy and Resource Efficiency
Is the organization supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: energy efficiency policy, standards, and targets |
NS |
0
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NS |
-1
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0
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1
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NS |
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Renewable Energy
Is the organization supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: Renewable energy legislation, targets, subsidies, and other policy |
NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NS |
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Energy Transition & Zero Carbon Technologies
Is the organization supporting an IPCC-aligned transition of the economy away from carbon-emitting technologies, including supporting relevant policy and legislative measures to enable this transition? |
1
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1
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1
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0
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0
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1
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NS |
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GHG Emission Regulation
Is the organization supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: GHG emission standards and targets. Is the organization supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: Standards, targets, and other regulatory measures directly targeting Greenhouse Gas emissions |
0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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-1
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NS |
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Disclosure on Relationships
Is the organization transparent about its involvement with industry associations that are influencing climate policy, including the extent to which it is aligned with these groups on climate? |
-2
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NS |
0
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NA | NA | NA | NS |
Open PDF file of Data Source
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
Oliver Zipse is the President of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) in 2021
Oliver Zipse
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
BMW CEO is on the Board of Directors of ACEA
Oliver Zipse
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
BMW CEO is on the Board of Directors of ACEA
Harald Krüger
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
Oliver Zipse is the President of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) in 2021
Oliver Zipse
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
BMW CEO is on the Board of Directors of ACEA
Oliver Zipse
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
BMW CEO is on the Board of Directors of ACEA
Harald Krüger
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
Senior executive is Chair of the Airfreight working group
Günter Wachsmann
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
BMW is an indirect Member of BDI via VDA
not specified
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
Senior executive is Chair of the Airfreight working group
Günter Wachsmann
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
BMW is an indirect Member of BDI via VDA
not specified
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
InfluenceMap Comment:
BMW Group is a partner company in the Corporate Advisory and Support Group
not specified
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
InfluenceMap Comment:
BMW Group is a partner company in the Corporate Advisory and Support Group
not specified
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
InfluenceMap Comment:
BMW Group is a partner company in the Corporate Advisory and Support Group
not specified
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
InfluenceMap Comment:
BMW Group is a partner company in the Corporate Advisory and Support Group
not specified
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
A number of major BMW subsidiaries (BMW UK, BMW Financial Services, BMW Manufacturing, MINI UK, are members of SMMT
n/a
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
A number of major BMW subsidiaries (BMW UK, BMW Financial Services, BMW Manufacturing, MINI UK, are members of SMMT
n/a
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
A subsidiary of BMW is a member of SIAM
n/a
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
A subsidiary of BMW is a member of SIAM
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
A subsidiary of BMW is a member of SIAM
n/a
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
InfluenceMap Comment:
A subsidiary of BMW is a member of SIAM
How to Read our Relationship Score Map
In this section, we depict graphically the relationships the corporation has with trade associations, federations, advocacy groups and other third parties who may be acting on their behalf to influence climate change policy. Each of the columns above represents one relationship the corporation appears to have with such a third party. In these columns, the top, dark section represents the strength of the relationship the corporation has with the influencer. For example if a corporation's senior executive also held a key role in the trade association, we would deem this to be a strong relationship and it would be on the far left of the chart above, with the weaker ones to the right. Click on these grey shaded upper sections for details of these relationships. The middle section contains a link to the organization score details of the influencer concerned, so you can see the details of its climate change policy influence. Click on the middle sections for for details of the trade associations. The lower section contains the organization score of that influencer, the lower the more negatively it is influencing climate policy.
Climate Lobbying Overview: BMW has actively engaged with climate regulation in the transport sector in the US and Europe and appears to have become more positive since 2019, particularly in its public support for CO2 and CAFE standards. However, the company retains memberships of a number of regressive trade associations and has a history of making statements opposing the transition to electrified transport prior to 2019.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: BMW primarily frames its position on the need to reduce CO2 emissions around the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. In it’s 2019 Sustainable Value Report the company states that it “factors in” the Paris Agreement, but it is unclear what this means in practice. In 2018, BMW Head Government Affairs and External Relations EMEA Andreas Klugescheid stated that the company has “no question mark” when it comes to the Paris Agreement and decarbonizing transport
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: BMW has engaged with mixed positions on GHG standards for vehicles. As recently as 2018 the company has been publicly opposed to emissions standards in the EU, with then BMW CEO Harald Krueger writing in an October 2018 blog that “Hoping to reduce CO2 emission by 45 percent by 2030 is dreaming. It is just not possible.” Since 2018, however BMW has adopted a less oppositional stance, but continues to emphasize the need for government policies to support the uptake of electric vehicles as key to the achievement of the targets, writing in it’s 2019 Sustainable Value report that “this goal can only be achieved by significantly increasing the share of electrified vehicles in the new vehicle fleet.”
In the United States, while BMW did not support the Trump Administration proposal to freeze Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, the company did sign an open letter to the President calling for the standards to be rolled back in June 2019, as well as supporting the rollback of the standards in an October 2018 submission to the Environmental Protection Agency. In July 2019, BMW entered into a voluntary arrangement with California regulators that accepts the state's tailpipe standards. Whilst this agreement represented a weakening for CAFE regulations in California, the deal represents a significant increase in stringency compared to the US Federal Administration’s SAFE Act.
Positioning on Energy Transition:BMW has supported a number of measures to support the electrification of transport. Prior to 2019 however, the company occasionally expressed oppositional positions on the decarbonisation of transportation. For example, in October 2018, then BMW Chief of Research and Development Klaus Frolich argued that the cost of EVs were too high a barrier to their widespread deployment. From 2019 onwards however, BMW seems to have shifted away from this stance, focusing its communications on supporting the expansion of both charging infrastructure and financial incentives for EVs in it’s 2019 Sustainable Value Report. Reacting to Germany’s low emission vehicle package in November 2020, BMW CEO Oliver Zipse warned that a lack of infrastructure would make the target “a very big challenge.” In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Zipse supported a purchase premium to boost demand for new vehicles in Germany, although it was not clear whether or not such a purchase premium would also subsidise ICE vehicles.
Industry Association Governance: BMW discloses some of its relationships with trade associations that may be influencing climate change policy, but has not explained the position of said trade associations nor how they are trying to influence those positions. BMW has not published an audit of their industry associations and their positions. The company retains memberships of a number of groups known to be oppositional to climate regulation including the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, Business Europe and the Federation of German Industries, as well as retaining board positions on European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), German Automotive Association (VDA) and the European Roundtable of Industrialists.