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BMW ACA/CCA Issue
Miscellaneous Questions and Answers
There
have been a few questions raised by members in letters published in Zündfolge
and elsewhere. This short article is intended to answer those questions.
Affiliation
with Conference
Currently
our Club is an affiliate of the International Council of Sports Car Clubs (ICSCC
or “Council”). This allows our members to participate in the racing
activities of Council in the Pacific Northwest. In the February issue, Ted
Rodgers asked whether joining BMW CCA would preclude our Club from continuing
this affiliation. We have asked the BMW CCA representatives and this affiliation
could continue.
ACA
Not Included in the International Council
In
this issue, Mark Crispin asks “why was ACA ejected from the International
Council of BMW Clubs?” To answer this properly, one must follow the history.
When the ACA was formed in Los Angeles, it was affiliated with the importer, Max
Hoffman, and BMW Club Europa. CCA was not affiliated with either. Over time, the
CCA was recognized by the International Council (or its predecessor, the Verban).
Because of this history, ACA remained on the International Council despite its
small size compared to the CCA. ACA was seen as the Los Angeles chapter. The
Seattle and Portland chapters were “under the wing” of LA but just barely
acknowledged.
The
International Council of BMW Clubs is greatly influenced by the American BMW
clubs because the American clubs are so large. Many of the national clubs around
the world are smaller than our local club. When the Los Angeles ACA chapter
became a CCA chapter, they attempted to assign their seat on the International
Council to the Puget Sound Chapter. The South African club, tired of the
American influence on the Council, did some political maneuvering which resulted
in the seat not being assigned to us. The ACA’s position on the Council was
lost.
One
Umbrella Organization
A
number of members, and Mark Crispin in this issue, have asked about BMW AG’s
desire to have one umbrella organization in each country. This has been a goal
of BMW AG for a number of years. But they have moved slowly to accomplish this
goal due to various problems around the world. In many countries there are two
clubs of nearly equal size. BMW has tried to broker mergers in these cases. In
Germany there were over 140 independent clubs with no national organization.
There they have formed a national organization and are “urging” the
independent clubs to join it.
BMW
AG desires one umbrella organization for a number of reasons. They want to have
one point of contact for dissemination of information. The company wants to be
able to control the use of the name BMW and the corporate logo. And this is a
German company: one club in each country suits their Germanic sense of order.
In
the United States there are four BMW clubs (not counting the special interest
groups). These are the BMW CCA, the BMW MOA (Motorcycle Owners’ Association),
the BMW RA (Riders’ Association), and the BMW ACA. Unfortunately for us, the
other three are huge. So, while AG wants one umbrella organization, there seems
to be a U.S. exception. The big three are each being accommodated so far.
However, this exception doesn’t apply to us. AG wants one car club in the U.S.
They’ll then likely work on a merger of the bike clubs.
This
whole push to create an umbrella organization in each country has not gone
entirely smoothly. But it is a goal that will continue to be pushed by BMW AG.
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