BMW announces another new plant in the Americas, this time in Mexico
04/07/2014
BMW has committed to building a new factory near the city of San Luis Potosí in line with its strategic policy of “globally balanced growth”.
“Mexico is an ideal location for the BMW Group and will be another important plant within our production network,” said production director, Harald Krüger, on the day. “We will invest $1 billion in the new production site over the next few years.”
He explained that BMW aims to start production in San Luis Potosí in 2019 with a workforce that will grow to around 1,500 people. Over the medium term, several thousand jobs will be created on the plant site and in the surrounding area, Mr Krüger added. He also said a solid network of established suppliers and well developed infrastructure in Mexico had played a part in the decision. The BMW Group has maintained good relations with Mexican suppliers for many years and purchased products worth $1.6 billion locally last year. This includes leather.
The company will announce which BMW models will be built at the San Luis Potosí location at a later date, but said it anticipates the new factory will have a production capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year.
“The Americas are among the most important growth markets for the BMW Group,” the production director added. “We are continuing our strategy of ‘production follows the market’.”
The BMW Group already announced a further investment of $1 billion at its existing plant in Spartanburg in the US in March this year. This will increase that plant’s annual production capacity to around 450,000 vehicles by the end of 2016 and make Spartanburg the largest plant in the BMW Group’s international production network.
In parallel, the BMW Group is currently building a plant in the state of Santa Catarina in Brazil. The start of production for the Brazilian plant is scheduled for later this year. “With plants in the US, Mexico and Brazil, the BMW Group will have extensive production capacity at key locations in North and South America,” the automotive group said.
Image shows Harald Krüger (left) presenting a model of a BMW car to Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto.
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