The BMW Group has announced that it will build a new production facility in Hungary, close to the town of Debrecen, as a way to expand its production network in Europe. The new car plant will offer capacity of up to 150,000 units yearly, generate over 1,000 new jobs and comes at an investment of about one billion euros.
“The BMW Group’s decision to build this new plant reaffirms our perspective for global growth. After significant investments in China, Mexico and the USA, we are now strengthening our activities in Europe to maintain a worldwide balance of production between Asia, America and our home continent,” said Harald Krüger, chairman of the BMW Group Board of Management.
“Europe is the BMW Group’s largest production location. In 2018 alone we are investing more than one billion euros in our German sites to upgrade and prepare them for electric mobility,” he added. The move to grow the Group’s production network is in line with BMW’s Number One > Next strategy, where it plans to offer 25 models with electrified drive systems by 2025.
As such, the upcoming plant in Hungary will be able to manufacture BMW models that use either combustion engines or electrified powertrains – all on a single production line. “It will bring greater capacity to our worldwide production network. When production commences, the plant will set new standards in flexibility, digitalisation and productivity,” noted Oliver Zipse, BMW Group Board Member for Production.
The need for increased capacity in Europe is also due to the continent being an important market for the BMW Group, accounting for 45% of all vehicle sales, or 1.1 million units in 2017. By the second half of 2018, the BMW Group reported growth in many markets across the continent, with vehicle deliveries totalling more than 560,000 units – a year-on-year rise of 1.2%.
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