BMW no longer builds combustion engines in Germany

BMW has ended the production of combustion engines at its main plant in Munich. The long-announced step was taken to make room for the production of electric cars at the Bavarian plant.

The manufacturer has completely relocated the production of combustion engines to Steyr in Austria and Hams Hall in the UK. BMW announced this move in November 2020, and the last eight-cylinder engine was assembled at the plant in Munich in November 2023. After 60 years of engine production in Munich, this is a turning point for Bayerische Motorenwerke.

The latter will be converted for the production of EVs. The all-electric BMW i4 has been built in Munich since October 2021. As reported, the New Class (Neue Klasse) will also be rolling off the production line at the main plant from 2026. BMW is investing around 400 million euros in converting the existing engine assembly line for vehicle construction.

The 1,200 employees who previously worked in engine construction will now be retrained and deployed in other areas in future – either at the Munich plant or at other BMW locations. The Works Council expressly welcomed the decision and multi-million euro investment in 2020 and spoke of a “role model for a successfully organised transformation in German industry.”

With the reorganisation of the main plant in Munich, BMW’s Bavarian production network for electric cars is taking further shape. The i4 is already being built in Munich, while the iX, i7 and i5 are coming off the production line in Dingolfing. The iX1 and iX2 electric SUVs are built in Regensburg, and other plants are also involved in component production – electric drive production is located in Dingolfing, for example. And a battery test centre is being built at the Wackersdorf plant.

At the end of September, the residents of the German municipality of Strasskirchen also decided in a referendum that BMW should be allowed to build its planned battery assembly plant there. In the future, BMW will assemble the delivered battery cells into ready-to-install battery packs centrally at the site and then distribute them to the neighbouring vehicle plants.

br.de (in German)

23 Comments

about „BMW no longer builds combustion engines in Germany“

Aleksey

14.11.2023 um 06:42

So... Will they rename from Bavarian Motors to something that reflects the departure?

Bill.

14.11.2023 um 11:32

It's still a motor but an electric motor

clasqm

14.11.2023 um 12:07

BMW doesn't have to. I don't think the German language uses different words for "engine" and "motor" as English does, although you can always qualify it with an adjective, i.e. "verbrennungsmotor" vs. "elektromotor". German-speakers, can you comment?

Nick

20.04.2024 um 23:56

Yes, you’re right. Motor is both in German

Tomas

14.11.2023 um 12:54

Electric motors are still motors. And the company is based in Bavaria. Why should they change?

Mr James Fletcher

14.11.2023 um 14:22

@ Aleksey - I had to read your comment twice as I was sure you'd left something out. MOTOR as in ELECTRIC MOTOR? It's definitely NOT an electric ENGINE. The badge doesn't need to change

Arash

14.11.2023 um 15:06

We're going to see a frightening future with electric cars. We'll miss those iconic V8s and V12s that BMW once produced.

Scott

14.11.2023 um 15:27

Electric motors are still motors. They aren't engines if that is what you were thinking.

kRon1k

14.11.2023 um 15:35

RIP BMW

Hunia

14.11.2023 um 15:58

BMW are building internal combustion engines in Berlin and will be for many years to come https://youtu.be/cQrFLRfeWJw?si=F25DBF_kzt2mNNSP

Ggg

14.11.2023 um 17:11

Yes . BMW. It will reflect the name like in the past. Electrical cars do have engines

14.11.2023 um 17:56

It'll be "Bayerisches Batteriewerk"... End of an era.

TMA1

15.11.2023 um 00:12

Great step- fewer jobs in production and maintenance, batteries from China, electricity from coal and natural gas, vehicles which are 30-40% heavier and wear the roadways faster (which requires more maintenance and pollution to repair) - all for what again?

Jules Sturgess

15.11.2023 um 00:45

'boring motor works'?

JS Ragman

15.11.2023 um 01:00

Very bad move by BMW. Not everyone wants an electric vehicle.

Bill Weston

15.11.2023 um 01:26

Is there really a market?

Scott D W Maser

15.11.2023 um 04:13

Very sad. Personally, the EV vehicles will never match the all around benefits of the combustion engine. A hybrid maybe, or hydrogen, water propulsion. Batteries physically would have to be enormous to equal the BTU’s . Short distance fine. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket BMW.

Michael Knehs

15.11.2023 um 08:48

In German the word motor is used for both motors and engines - what type of engine or motor it is depends upon the entirety of the word. Verbrennungsmotor would be a combustion engine, whereas Elektromotor would denote an electric motor. Hence no name change will be needed...

Dave

15.11.2023 um 09:29

False BMW continues to make internal combustion engines for its motorcycles in Berlin.

Dino Leblanc

16.11.2023 um 03:40

Lol let see how long that will last

Gerard Bos

16.11.2023 um 06:08

This car manufacturers gamble or the wrong side. It's still not a given deal that the EV market will eventually be the one to follow. It's still not clean, they are heavy, depreciation guaranteed and hydrogen is coming. In the whole world you see that EV manufacturers are scaling back instead of going 100%. Bit to fast for BMW.

Graeme

20.11.2023 um 10:22

EVs are not our panacea - the EV market is here to save automotive manufacturers, not the planet, but while we wait for a cleaner source of fuel, they'll fill a gap. Hydrogen is not the right solution - there are so many heavy industrial processes that require vast quantities of green hydrogen that to divert it to light motor vehicles is a dumb waste . Yes, the mass of vehicles is an issue, even in Europe where an EV may tip 2,000kg, compared to a typical 1,200kg ICE vehicle (USA vehicle bloat is just risible), and will tend to wear roadways faster, stress parking structures, and generate more tyre particulates than ICE machines. However, for the sake of the environment, we absolutely have to stop extracting and burning hydrocarbons. BMW are no mugs - this is a business decision and doubtless subsidised to the hilt, but it's a bell wether for the industry at large and I personally commend it. I couldn't care less about the sound of a V8 or about 150 years of ICE tradition. I want to leave behind a planet with breathable air, drinkable water and a survivable temperature range. Disclosure - happy Skoda Enyaq driver.

James

30.03.2024 um 05:31

Environmentally friendly vehicles are the way to go. Big Ups for BMW for the bold move. All new ventures has challenges, be it heavy batteries today, tyre particulates or road surface damages, etc. it doesn’t matter, the changes are necessary now. Improvements and innovations will present themselves only to those who are actually actively involved. The sceptics and ney sayers will always be the followers. So BMW, keep going, some of us just takes a bit longer to grasp the bigger picture, keep it up.