BMW’s Quandt Family Gave Merkel’s Political Party €690,000

Three members of the Quandt family, which owns 46.7% of BMW AG, donated a record €690,000 to support the political party of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was reelected last month.

The donations reportedly were the largest private gifts to any German political party this year.

The gifts were revealed the day after a German lobbying effort led by Merkel successfully delayed an EU decision on future carbon dioxide limits for cars. Germany had been pushing to lengthen the compliance period for the rule, which it considers difficult to achieve by luxury car makers such as BMW.

The Quandt family and the Christian Democratic Union promptly issued separate statement saying the donations were not connected with any single political decision or industrial policy. The family says its gifts were made after the Sept. 22 election to avoid affecting the campaign.

But Germany's LobbyControl organization calls the timing of the donations "highly explosive." The Financial Times notes that political financing is a continuing concern in Germany, where Transparency International is pushing for a cap of €50,000 per year for such donations.