BMW held a ground-breaking ceremony at the site of its newest Western Hemisphere vehicle factory this month. BMW Group Plant San Luis Potosí will become the company's second North American production facility; it's scheduled to start rolling out BMW 3 Series sedans in 2019.
BMW is investing $1,000,000,000 in the plant, which will have the capacity to manufacture up to 150,000 vehicles per year and will employ about 1,500 workers.
Oliver Zipse, BMW AG Board of Management member for production is confident that the new Mexican factory will be a good fit for BMW’s style of operations and quality. “All of the BMW Group’s knowledge and capabilities will be on show at our new location in Mexico,” said Zipse. “The production system being established there will be a leader in productivity and sustainability, thanks to the use of innovative technologies. I am delighted to launch this ground-breaking BMW Group plant on its way.”
Zipse also let it slip that eventually a second model will be built at the plant in addition to the 3 Series. In fact, he said, the factory will be designed to accommodate production of any BMW rear-wheel drive vehicles, including crossovers, as necessary.
Board of Management member for Human Resources Milagros Caiña-Andree addresses the company’s role as an employer, saying, “Our success depends above all on the people who work for us. Their capabilities create our products. They form the strong foundation of our new BMW Plant San Luis Potosí. For this reason, it is also important for us to be an attractive employer here, to inspire passion for the BMW Group among employees, to encourage their ambition and develop their talents.”
Students of BMW history may recall that when BMW built its first North American factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina, it drew skepticism from critics who could not imagine that American workers could maintain BMW’s level of quality and production the way German workers could. Those critics were proven wrong in fairly short order, as BMW Plant Spartanburg learned to make vehicles every bit as good as the German factories produced, and is now the largest BMW factory in the world.
Another overseas success story is BMW Plant Rosslyn in South Africa, which has been producing 3 Series BMWs since the 1970s, and last year received the JD Powers Platinum Plant Quality Award for producing models with the fewest defects or malfunctions. These demonstrate that BMW plants don’t have to be in the Old Country to make good cars.
Speaking of South Africa, the 3 Series sedans produced at the new BMW Plant San Luis Potosí will be making up for the Rosslyn, South Africa plant’s conversion from 3 Series to X3 production. Rosslyn was a big exporter of 3 Series, including to the U.S. BMW’s new Mexican factory will pick up the slack and then some when it comes to new 3 Series in U.S. dealer showrooms. About 70 percent of the factory's production will go to the North American markets.
The new BMW factory in Mexico will sit on 300 acresa and will be a full plant, with body shop, paint shop, and assembly hall. BMW is building the facility to be its most resource-efficient production plant in the world. The plant’s electricity will come from renewable energy sources that generate no carbon dioxide in its production. Much of the power will come from a solar array on the factory grounds.
Another goal is to use less water per car produced than any other BMW plant. The paint shop is being designed to produce no process wastewater; all the paint shop’s water will be reconditioned and recycled.
BMW will use two of its top production facilities to help set up the new plant and train its workforce Munich and Spartanburg. For example, BMW Plant Munich will train more than 500 Mexican employees by 2019.
Mexico wanted this plant in a big way. Mexican media reported that the government provided BMW $236,000,000 in local aid in return for the thousands of jobs created and the billions in BMW investments. The company will also not be required to pay state and ocal taxes for ten years, according to Mexican economic development officials.
In 1994, BMW opened up a new factory in the United States to take advantage of lower labor costs than it could find in Germany and to help reduce the cost of exporting vehicles into the United States. It worked out so well for the company that now, 22 years later, BMW is doing it again, only a little farther south.—Scott Blazey
[Photos courtesy of BMW AG.]
