BMW confirmed that it will invest roughly $1 billion (€0.73 billion) to build a new plant in Mexico near the city of San Luis Potosí in the state of the same name.
“Mexico is an ideal location for the BMW Group and will be another important plant within our production network. We will invest one billion US dollars in the new production site over the next few years. Production is planned to start in 2019 and during that year, the workforce will reach around 1,500 people,” said Harald Krüger, member of the BMW AG Board of Management, responsible for Production.
BMW said that over the medium term, several thousand jobs will be created on the plant site and in the surrounding area. The carmaker will announce which models will be built at the plant at a later date.
“This decision underscores our commitment to the NAFTA region. We have been building BMW cars at our US plant in Spartanburg for the past 20 years. With a planned annual capacity of 150,000 units for the new plant in Mexico, the BMW Group will be even better positioned to take advantage of the growth potential in the entire region,” Krüger said.
He emphasized that the Americas are among the most important markets for the BMW Group, with the carmaker continuing its strategy of “production follows the market.” The Mexico assembly plant will be the third in the Americas, after Spartanburg (U.S.) and Santa Catarina (Brazil).
BMW sold 13,992 vehicles in Mexico in 2013, an increase of almost 18.3 percent over the previous year. Motorcycle sales for the same period reached 2,064 units (+16.6 percent).
By Dan Mihalascu
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