Makes and Models

We spoke with BMW Vice President Jack Pitney about his car preferences:”It would be a convertible, a manual transmission. The world needs a bit more joy right now. It would be a more avante garde color and a leather interior package. In a convertible all of your worries are blowing out into the air; it’s liberating, really. And manual; there’s artistry in driving a car and driving it well.”

Pitney spoke to the climate of car buying in these times. “You try not to let the outside world affect you, but that doesn’t mean you operate in splendid isolation.”

And to sum up BMW’s mantra: “What we stand for is bringing the joy of driving to life.” He uses Project I as a an example, of designers and engineers imagining the future with zero emissions. “We think of zero emissions as not fun, but these guys have a whole new business model.”

He spoke about American’s perceptions of diesel, but counters with the twin-turbo engine’s lean ways and performance prowess.
“We’re all using different ways to get to the same way to answer the question.” He says longterm is battery electric vehicles.

And on the topic of BMW art cars, which had just finished their Manhattan pit stop on exhibition in Grand Central Station, Pitney took extreme pride, recalling past New York showings of the BMW tradition. “It has reminded us in our belief in the arts and design. It’s a differentiator.” He has something lined up for next year that he alluded to in the art car world, an escape from the current discussion of woes. More on that conversation to come, but we’ll leave you with this point of BMW philosophy, “Design is part of who we are. We’re a company driven by our engineering department. We always protect car development process and the design development.”

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