BMW Group announced that construction of its new proving ground in the Czech Republic has begun. The new 500-hectare facility is located in Sokolov, near the Karlovy Vary region, or about 2.5 hours’ drive from its R&D centre in Munich. The total investment figure is said to be in the hundred millions of euros.
Located close to the German border town of Waldsassen, the new proving ground will create several hundred new job opportunities, with operations scheduled to begin at the turn of the decade. The move is necessary because the company’s existing facilities in Aschheim (near Munich), Miramas (France) and Arjeplog (Sweden) no longer have sufficient capacity to meet testing requirements. This includes tests such as electrification, digitalisation and automated driving as well as safety-testing for driver assistance systems.
“We found the ideal conditions and grounds we need for vehicle testing in Sokolov. Opening our first development location in Eastern Europe will create new opportunities and marks a milestone in the history of our company. Working with the property owner Sokolovská uhelná and all political representatives has been extremely positive so far and is based on mutual trust,” says Herbert Grebenc, BMW AG’s Human Resources, senior vice president Real Estate Management, Corporate Security.
“The BMW Group is at the vanguard of technology. As an innovation driver, we aim to offer customers the best, most emotional mobility experience and create digital connections between people, vehicles and services. At the planned proving facility in Sokolov, we will continue to advance ground-breaking topics, such as electrification, digitalisation and automated driving – for example, through safety-testing for assistance systems,” adds Grebenc.
“The government of the Czech Republic and the BMW Group are preparing a joint cooperation agreement on the investment announced by the BMW Group in construction of a new proving ground for future vehicle technologies in the Karlovy Vary region. The government will deal with the draft of the specialised aspects of that declaration soon. The Ministry of Industry and Trade welcomes investments of this kind, which create highly-skilled and specialised jobs and bring high added value for the Czech economy,” says Tomáš Hüner, Czech minister of industry and trade.
“The plans of such a major investor as the German automobile manufacturer, the BMW Group, are very important to the Karlovy Vary region. Our region is one of three in the Czech Republic undergoing structural change. There is a lack of research, development and innovation and we are struggling with a shortage of jobs. The district of Sokolov will see a gradual decline in mining in the future and people there will be looking for new challenges,” says Jana Vildumetzová, president of the Karlovy Vary region.
“By creating several hundred jobs through construction of a proving ground for automated driving, we are opening a new chapter in the continued development of our region. This will open up attractive new employment opportunities in development and related areas for the people of Sokolov and the entire region. This project comes at exactly the right time and we will do everything we can to ensure that the Karlovy Vary region is a strong partner for the company and provides full support throughout its implementation,” she adds.
BMW has about 14 dealerships scattered across the Czech Republic. In the first 10 months of 2017, the company sold 6,985 units of BMW and MINI cars (+18%) to customers in the Czech Republic. By contrast, the two entities delivered 7,013 units (combined, +7.7%) throughout 2016. Last year’s best-performing models are the BMW X5 (14.3%), the BMW 5 Series (10.9%) and the BMW X1 (10.4%).
Back at home, BMW sold 9,608 units for the first 11 months of 2017, behind leader Mercedes-Benz with 10,952 units.
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BMW is clever. That will be their Eastern European base. Just like how Thailand is the base for our region.
BMW knows where there is stability and good governance to set up factories. They only choose places with least corruption.
Implying that Germany (11th) is more corrupted than Czech (38th)
Proton has proton city, right? Should have one. Save themselves from asking a team of engineers to test the car whole Malaysia. No more spyshots leak then. Every one is happy.