BMW Group Manufacturing Thailand has announced that it will be looking to increase its completely built-up (CBU) exports for 2016 and the following year. The Group aims to ship 10,000 cars annually, mainly to China, according to a report by the Bangkok Post.
The increase in shipments is in line with the company’s international growth strategy. In September 2015, BMW’s Munich headquarters announced it will invest 1.1 billion baht into expanding the Amata City industrial estate factory in Rayong, which is operated by BMW Manufacturing Thailand.
With the expansion being completed earlier this year, the factory now has an annual production capacity that is double of before, capable of producing 20,000 BMWs and MINIs. Additionally, motorcycle production has also increased from 1,000 to 10,000 per year
The Rayong factory has been shipping BMW cars to Malaysia since 2006, and only begun exporting motorcycles to China beginning from last year (1,000 units shipping to Malaysia and China). Both countries are the only international export destinations for the factory until now.
According to CEO and president of BMW Thailand Matthias Pfalz, the majority of car shipments from the factory for 2016 will be two BMW SUV models – the X3 and X5. The factory’s production catalogue comprises eight BMW models – 1 Series, 3 Series, 3 Series Gran Turismo, 5 Series, 7 Series, X1, X3, X5. It also makes the MINI Countryman.
On the BMW Motorrad side, the F700GS, F800R, F800GS, F800GT, S1000R, S1000RR, R1200GS and R1200GS Adventure is produced there as well. This makes the Rayong facility the only site in BMW’s global network with full operations for all three brands.
Pfalz also added that the group had set up an international purchasing office in Thailand to ship auto parts and components to 30 factories in 14 Asian countries. In the future, the group also plans to assemble BMW’s plug-in hybrid electric vehicles for the first time, with the X5 xDrive40e being the first (currently imported).
In 2015, the Group posted record sales figures of 8,768 cars, a gain of 5% from the previous year. BMW passenger vehicles attributed 7,751 units (up 4%), while MINI saw 1,017 cars delivered, a 10% increase. BMW Motorrad registered 1,280 motorcycles sold, an impressive 83% jump from the previous year.
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Export to Malaysia? Wait I a bit confuse, then Kedah BMW plant it’s CKD models is export to where pulak?????
BMW Malaysia only assembles models which can sell by volume. As that will give ROI at a faster rate – namely 3 series or 5 series. Maybe x3. Since it has to spend money on assembly equipment like jigs which can costs millions of ringgit.
Those which still can sell but at a lower volume will be imported from Thai to enjoy the afta tariff. Cars like 1 series. Or x1. For cars that has a very low market penetration, BMW will have to import from outer ASEAN. Hope this helps.
you’re wrong though. they assemble funny things like the X6 and 3 GT as well.
Yeah they do assemble X1 and 3series GT as well. If not mistaken 730iL and 740iL. BMW Malaysia just recently intro X6 which Paultan blog say is CKD “http://paultan.org/2015/09/09/bmw-x6-xdrive35i-ckd-launched-malaysia/” so this is a big question mark!????? And contracting topic.
Yet another blow to Malaysians and a few thousand or maybe tens of thousands jobs are lost because BMW has chosen Thailand.
Malaysians have already suffered so much. For 30 years, 30 million people suffer so much. We struggle paying for our high car prices all because of one man’s dream of benefiting his friends and relatives through the AP system and the government protecting Proton.
Malaysia was on its way to becoming the Detroit of Asia in the 90s. But the AP system cost us hundreds of billions in ringgit in investments from car companies who moved to Thailand and Indonesia. Car companies got fed up with Malaysia’s MITI for protecting Proton and telling other companies what to price their cars. They got sick and tired of the AP system and how genuine brands cannot get enough APs to import their cars in (like Mercedes, BMW and Honda).
They thought that if they set up their brands and plants in Malaysia, they knew they had to share the pool of APs with the cronies and they knew 90% of all APs go to the cronies. They all moved their operations to Thailand making it the AutoCity of the world.
Recently GM announced that they rolled out already 1 million cars from Thailand. Imagine if GM was in Malaysia and we taxed GM RM10,000 per car. Calculate that with 1 million cars. Just from GM alone, we lost Billions in USD. Imagine what will the amount be from other car companies if they had set up in Malaysia?
Because of Mahathir and his AP system, as well as Proton, we lost hundreds of billion of ringgit in investment and trillions of ringgit from jobs lost. If Malaysia was the autocity of Asia, hundreds of thousands of jobs would have been created for Malaysians. We lost all that. Trillions of Ringgit and hundreds of thousands of jobs. Now, Thailand is benefiting from this trillions lost.
So, in summary, the 30 PEKEMA AP members and Proton have solely caused Malaysia to lose trillions in investments.
A word of caution to the idiots at MAI and the idiots in MITI, Malaysia might even lose existing companies who are already CKDing in Malaysia. BMW, Mercedes, Nissan, Honda and Toyota might even close up their plants in Malaysia to open up in Thailand.
This is so worrisome. Despite Thailand having an unstable economy with riots and bombing, no stable government, yet car companies still prefer Thailand to Malaysia. Makes us wonder…..what is wrong with Malaysia?
You must be never been Thailand and never do some research about Thai automobile policy.
Negative comment again. Copy and paste. No life.
Just matter of time before BMW Malaysia close shop their CKD operations in Malaysia. Then the ministers again can go around telling everybody, BMW closed CKD plant in Malaysia cause Proton beat them. Now already Ministers saying Proton is at par with BMw and Volvo quality
really shameful! malaysia is 10x better compared to thailand (politically more stable, more educated, more english speaking people, more peaceful, less natural disasters, etc ). we should be far ahead, but instead, the thai baht is higher compared to the ringgit! where to show face!
Thousand of advantage never beat BE END.
However our people less hardworking than their and need to depends on bangla or indon. Cronies must involve in every procurement and hire politician family members to take gaji buta.