BMW: Sustainable growth, social responsibility

"BMW has taken our expertise in the fields of building cars and building a successful business to multiply our social impact," said CEO Kastner. "We approach our CSR activities the same way we approach our business, building influential, comprehensive and systematic CSR programs that in turn support our company's goals."

In China, its efforts have focused on resources, intercultural innovation and social inclusion, and education support.

"We are particularly proud of the BMW China Culture Journey program which acknowledges our appreciation of China's traditional culture and raises awareness about intangible cultural heritage," said Kastner.

Over the past six years, the journey has covered the Silk Road, the Grand Canal, earthquake stricken areas in the west, coastal regions in the south and the plains of China' central regions. In all the effort it has explored more than 150 cultural heritage sites and has contributed to 58 cultural legacies in need.

BMW has also promoting traffic safety education as the millions of news cars hit the road grows and the number of new drivers rises every year.

The BMW Children's Traffic Safety Education program has been held nationwide for eight consecutive years and for more than 350,000 children.

"Children in major cities aren't the only ones who have joined our program," said Kastner. "We have also brought our traffic safety module class to the children of migrant workers and are planning to extend this program to left-behind children schooled in the classrooms of at the BMW JOY Home, our long-term project to enrich the lives of children in less-developed areas," said Kastner.

BMW also strives to help society in other ways, he added.

From emergency aid to post-disaster reconstruction in earthquake-stricken Wenchuan in Sichuan and Yushu in Qinghai, the BMW Warm Heart Fund has sent assistance to people in need, said Kastner.

"For BMW, corporate sustainability and CSR programs are business approaches that create long-term consumer and employee value, not only a 'green' strategy aimed at preserving the environment, but also taking into consideration the social, cultural and economic aspects of a business," said Kastner.

"That's why for the past eight years, BMW has been consistently ranked as an industry leader in the field of corporate sustainability on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index ."