BMW breaks ground on its first car plant in South America
17/12/2013
This will be the first BMW Group automotive plant in South America. Harald Krüger, the group’s production director, said: “The new plant in Brazil will be an important element in our international production network and will make a significant contribution to growth. Our strategic principle of ‘production follows the market’ has previously proven effective in markets such as the US and China and will also ensure our success in Brazil as an important future market.”
BMW has said fast-growing emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India and Korea will play “a vital role” in its future growth. The new Araquari plant will take the group’s network to 29 production and assembly sites in 13 countries on four continents.
Production at Araquari will scale up to a full capacity of 30,000 vehicles per year. The portfolio will include: MINI Countryman, BMW 1 Series 5-door model, BMW 3 Series Sedan, BMW X1, and BMW X3. The project will create 1,300 new jobs; 60 new employees are already on board.
Further jobs will be created within the supplier network of the new plant and BMW has said it is planning to source many components locally and to build close ties with Brazilian suppliers early on.
Share this story:
