BMW expands Leipzig factory to 200 BMW i models daily
BMW is investing more than 300 million euro in the expansion of their Leipzig factory, where the i3 and the i8 models are manufactured. The focus is on several major construction endeavors to improve and modernise chassis construction, painting, assembly and logistics.
The German company is mainly planning to increase their production capacity with the renovation, aiming to boost production from the current 250,000 vehicles per year to about 350,000 vehicles per year by 2020. The production rate of the i models is already being boosted in Fall this year from 130 vehicles per day to 200.
In future, BMW plans to have all their factories capable of producing combustion motor vehicles, as well as BEVs and PHEVs, starting with their Leipzig location. According to BMW production manager Oliver Zipse, the idea is to make the location more flexible and, above all, more efficient, so it would be more competitive in future.
Leipzig is synonymous with BMW’s entry to e-mobility. At the BMW facility, the i3 models have been in production since 2013. Last year, the factory celebrated the production of the 100,000th vehicle produced. The BMW i8 has been in production at the Leipzig location since 2014. The newest achievement in the electric sector has been the BMW i8 Roadster, which has been in production since March 2018. The serial production of the i8 started parallel to the further developed i8 Coupé. Both vehicles are made to customer specifications on the same assembly line.
The increased flexibility of assembly lines has been something BMW focused on in the past years alongside increasing the production capacities of the lines. The factory was opened in 2005 with 2,000 employees. Since then, another 3,300 jobs have been added, more than 2.3 million vehicles assembled and about 3 billion euros have been invested in the location.
0 Comments