BMW Group is transforming its plants as it prepares to electrify its lineup and launch over a dozen battery-electric cars in the coming years.
This includes investing 400 million euros (approximately $473 million) in a new vehicle plant at BMW Group's main production site in Munich, Germany.
To make way for this new plant, an existing plant that has been building 4-, 6-, 8- and 12-cylinder engines for decades will be removed. In future, these engines will be built at existing BMW Group engine plants in Steyr, Austria, and Hams Hall, United Kingdom, the automaker said Wednesday.
The relocation of the engine production will be done in stages and should be completed by 2024.
Milan Nedeljkovic
“Restructuring our engine production network is a strategic move geared towards the future,” Milan Nedeljkovic, BMW Group's head of production, said in a statement.
The move means BMW Group will no longer build any engines in Germany, though production of electric powertrains and batteries will be increased. For instance, the automaker already builds electric powertrains in Dingolfing, Germany, and will expand capacity and add production of batteries here in the near future.
Plants in the German cities of Leipzig and Regensburg are also being prepared for production of batteries from 2021, and the engine plant in Austria is also being prepared for increased production of components for electric powertrains.
BMW Group is committed to offering 25 electrified vehicles across its brands by 2023, and more than half of these will be battery-electric cars. As soon as 2022, the automaker said it will be building at least one battery-electric car at each of its plants in Germany.
