BMW to exclusively build electric cars in Munich from 2027

Overall, it will be the Munich-based company’s second all-electric plant; the factory currently under construction in Debrecen, Hungary, will only build electric cars from the outset – commissioning with a “New Class” model is planned for 2025. However, the main plant in Munich will then be the first existing BMW site to be completely converted.

A purely electric car, the i4, has already been built in Munich since 2021, but this is still based on the CLAR multi-energy platform. The 3 Series Saloon, the 3 Series Touring, the M offshoots of these two models and the combustion counterpart to the i4, the 4 Series Gran Coupé, are also built in Munich on this basis. There are also two PHEV variants of the 3 Series models. According to BMW, “every second vehicle produced every day already has an all-electric drive”.

“The Munich plant is an excellent example of our ability to adapt. We are investing € 650 million here and will produce exclusively all-electric vehicles in our parent plant from the end of 2027,” explains Milan Nedeljković, Member of the Board of Management for Production, in a recent press release from the car manufacturer. As reported, production of ‘new class’ electric cars will initially start at the Munich plant in 2026 in parallel with the production of the current models. From the end of 2027, only purely electric cars will then roll off the production line there. The BMW Vision Neue Klasse IAA concept last September gave a preview of the model planned for 2026 from Munich.

As the German Handelsblatt newspaper writes, BMW assumes that the electric saloons of the ‘New Class’ will fully utilise the plant from the end of 2027. “The vehicles are being trialled and we are right on schedule,” assures project manager Mike Reichelt. The approximately 8,000 employees at the plant should be fully retrained for the production of electric cars by then. Currently, up to 200,000 cars can be built in Munich each year.

A few months ago, BMW had already ended the production of combustion engines at its main plant. Now that the decision has been announced, it is clear: after 75 years, the era of combustion cars from Munich will end in three years’ time. “The heart of BMW beats here in Munich. The Munich plant is innovative and versatile. As in the 1960s, a new class is laying the foundation for our plant to reinvent itself,” says Peter Weber, Head of the Munich plant. We are delighted to be leading the Munich plant into the all-electric future, starting with the New Class saloon.”

In 2023, the BMW Group sold 376,183 all-electric vehicles, 74.4 per cent more than in 2022. The electric share of total sales was 14.7 per cent – conversely, almost 85 per cent still had a combustion engine on board. By 2024, the share of electric vehicles is expected to be 20 per cent, and 25 per cent by 2025.

In addition to Debrecen and Munich, BMW will also build cars based on the ‘New Class’ in Shenyang in China and San Luis Potosí in Mexico. It is not yet known whether this will initially only be for the local markets or global export.

bmwgroup.com, handelsblatt.com (in German)