BMW - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

BMW is High Risk.

BMW AG is High Risk. The company yields to political activism in shaping corporate governance, potentially alienating consumers, dividing employees, and harming shareholders. BMW embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues. This approach fails to safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise.

Rating Criteria

Corporate Weaponization Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Cancellations	Medium Risk
Discriminatory Philanthropy	High Risk
Employment Protection	High Risk

Corporate Weaponization ⓘ

Corporate Governance and Public Policy Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Advocacy Bias	High Risk
Funding	High Risk
Political Actions	High Risk

Corporate Governance and Public Policy ⓘ

Rating Criteria Detail

Criteria Risk Level Rationale

Corporate Weaponization

Criteria:

Has canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level:

Medium

Rationale:

BMW integrates ESG into its business practices. From its 2024 Key Aspects of Corporate Governance: “ESG-criteria as part of the performance criteria” (1). BMW promotes divisive sex and gender policies. Its Supplier Code of Conduct requires international vendors to include sexual orientation and gender identity in their nondiscrimination policy (2). However, the company has not publicly canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors based on political views or religious beliefs (3).

Criteria:

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Rolls-Royce’s HRC 2023-2024 CEI rating indicates the company will not donate to non-religious charities unless they embrace controversial sexual identity policies (1)(2). BMW does not appear to discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or beliefs. The company’s charitable giving focus areas are “STEM, sustainability, road safety, and cultural engagement” (3).

Criteria:

Employment policies fail to protect against viewpoint or other discrimination and/or are ideological in nature.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Rolls-Royce‘s HRC 2023-2024 CEI rating indicates the company forces employees to attend multiple, controversial trainings on gender identity, sexual orientation, transgender issues, and divisive racial ideology. The company provides gender transition guidelines for its employees (1)(2). BMW requires its employees to take diversity training (3)(4). BMW appears to prioritize diversity over merit in its business structure through the establishment of gender targets for its leadership composition. The company is seeking 10%-15% women in leadership by 2025 (5). BMW does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (6).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

Uses corporate reputation to support causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Rolls-Royce’s HRC 2023-2024 CEI rating indicates the company agrees to allow a controversial stakeholder group focused on sexual identity issues to dictate marketing or advertising strategy (1)(2). By doing so, the company risks dividing employees, alienating customers and harming shareholders. BMW signed the UN Standards of Conduct for Business to tackle discrimination against LGBTQ people (3). It also joined the Diversity Charter in Germany to integrate diversity into the corporate culture (4). BMW supports DEI within its business practices. From its Press Release: “Diversity, equity and inclusion are an integral part of our HR strategy. Putting diversity into practice is becoming one of our key success factors and makes us attractive as an employer” (5). BMW is within the top five of the DAX 30 LGBT+ Diversity Index 2020 and regularly supports LGBTQ Pride (6)(7)(8).

Criteria:

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Rolls-Royce’s HRC 2023-2024 CEI rating indicates the company covers transgender related costs for its employees and their children, including paid short-term leave, puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, chest surgeries, genital surgeries, medical visits and lab monitoring, travel and lodging. Additionally, the company has pledged philanthropic support of at least one organization or event that promotes sex and gender ideology (1)(2). By allowing a political stakeholder group to dictate operations, the company increases health care costs and risks dividing employees, alienating customers and harming shareholders. BMW is an international partner with The Valuable 500 which seeks a more inclusive work environment and is a member of PrOut at Work, “a leading German think tank offering advice on LGBT*IQ topics at the workplace” (3)(4). The company also supported the Trevor Project which advocates for LGBTQ youth and sponsored the Driven by Pride Campaign (5). BMW was a Bronze Tier corporate sponsor of the Trevor Project, an organization that advocates for controversial sex and gender ideology, including “gender transition” drugs and surgeries for minors, through legislation, litigation, advertising, and PR campaigns. The organization also hosts online chatrooms that allow adults to communicate with minors as young as 13 about sexually explicit topics. Adults in these chatrooms have encouraged minors to adopt transgender identities and withhold this information from their parents (6)(7)(8)(9)(10). BMW Foundation is a corporate partner of Ashoka, a global network of entrepreneurs focused on widespread, systemic social and environmental change (11).

Criteria:

Uses corporate political actions and/or financial contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Rolls-Royce’s HRC 2023-2024 CEI rating indicates the company publicly advocated for controversial sex and gender ideology through local, state or federal legislation or initiatives (1)(2). By allowing a political stakeholder group to dictate operations, the company risks dividing employees, alienating customers and harming shareholders. BMW does not operate a PAC at this time but has not lobbied for ideological purposes (3)(4)(5).