In 2015, BMW Group announced a R6bn investment into South Africa in order to prepare BMW Group Plant Rosslyn for the BMW X3 production.
This event is the culmination of three years of hard work and planning resulting in production starting on time in Rosslyn.
The BMW Group assigns production to its facilities around the world on the basis of various factors. Demand for BMW’s X-derivative models has grown to more than 30% of worldwide sales since the launch of the first BMW X5 in 1999. BMW Group Plant Rosslyn was assigned production of the new BMW X3 on the basis that demand exceeds the capacity of the Group’s plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. This change has secured the future of Plant Rosslyn as well as the livelihoods of thousands of people at facilities and in the supply chain.
BWM Group Plant Rosslyn was the first plant built by the BMW Group outside of Germany. The plant built the BMW 3 Series for 35 years, manufacturing a total of 1,191,604 units during the period and increasing production with every model. With a planned maximum capacity of 71 000 units of the BMW X3, which was later increased (with an additional R160m investment) to 76 000, BMW Group Plant Rosslyn has the opportunity to flexibly match volumes to demand and to build more cars than ever before.
Tim Abbott, CEO of BMW Group South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, says the successful ramp-up of production of the BMW X3 at Rosslyn is a vote of confidence in the country and in BMW Group South Africa’s associates.
“The allocation of production of such a crucial model to our plant is about as big a vote of confidence as it gets,” Abbott says. “The demand for the BMW X3 globally is powerful and ramping up on time and to the right standards is vital to the model’s success.”
