German car maker BMW has officially confirmed its plan to build a new plant in Mexico. To be located in the state of San Luis Potosi, the new plant will start building cars in the year 2019. For building this new facility, BMW intends to invest $1 billion in the next few years. Before BMW, other auto majors such as Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz have also confirmed plans for setting up a new facility in the country.
Though BMW hasn't made its stand clear over what models will be produced in the new plant, but there are some reports claiming the manufacturing of 3-Series for export purpose. Another possibility would be production of compact BMW as-well-as MINI models.
While discussing the new facility, member of the BMW AG Board of Management Harald Krüger said, “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.
“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.”
From past few years, Mexico has been an ideal choice for producing cars for a number of automakers. Thanks to country's lower wages, its proximity to the lucrative U.S. market, as-well-as its free trade agreements with United States and many other nations across the globe.
The new Mexico plant is an addition to BMW’s existing American plants including the car facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina and an existing motorcycle plant in Brazil. The manufacturer has also started construction of a car plant in Brazil which is expected to be operational by this year's end or may be early next year.
Source : CarDekho
