BMW 2004 Annual Report Download - page 21

Group Management Report 8
A review of the Financial Year 8
Outlook 29
Financial Analysis 30
--Earnings performance 30
--Financial position 33
--Net assets position 34
--Events after the
Balance Sheet date 37
--Value added statement 37
--Key performance figures 39
--Comments on the financial
statements of BMW AG 40
Risk Management 44
BMW Stock in 2004 48
20
The focus of the BMW plant in Munich in 2004
was the start of production of the new BMW 3 Series
Sedan, which resulted in the most extensive modifi-
cation projects to date for the assembly and chassis
construction areas. The new BMW 3 Series went
into production in Munich in December 2004; the
other 3 Series plants in Regensburg, Leipzig and
Rosslyn (South Africa) will follow suit in February and
March 2005 onwards. Despite the modifications to
production facilities and the related interruption of
production in January, more than 172,000 BMW cars
left the Munich plant in 2004. In the meantime, more
than seven million BMWs have been manufactured
at the Munich plant. In addition to the full range of
V8 and V12 engines, the new ten-cylinder engine
for the BMW M5 and the BMW M6 is also manufac-
tured in Munich. Both of these vehicles will be avail-
able to customers from April 2005 onwards.
Substantial expansion measures were completed
at the Regensburg plant for the start of production
of the new BMW 1 Series; since 2001 the Group
has invested approximately euro 500 million in these
modifications. The paint-shop, for example, has
been completely rebuilt. As at the Dingolfing plant,
robots now also apply powder-based clear paint to
car bodies in the Regensburg plant using electro-
static technology. The BMW Group is currently the
only manufacturer in the world to embrace environ-
mental-
friendly powder-based clear paint technology,
requiring neither water nor solvents.
Work on the new BMW plant in Leipzig is pro-
gressing in line with plan; operational tests to date
indicate that equipment and processes are already
performing well. BMW 3 Series cars will be manu-
factured at the new location from March 2005 on-
wards. The new plant will be opened in May 2005,
at which stage Leipzig will officially become part
of the BMW Group’s international production net-
work, which will then comprise 22 locations in twelve
countries.
Since production of the current BMW 3 Series
was started in 1998, more than 250,000 cars have
been manufactured at the BMW plant in Rosslyn,
South Africa. The 250,000th vehicle, a BMW 330i,
came off the production line in August 2004.
Productionof the BMW X5 4.8is,the most power-
ful version of this highly successful model, started
at the U.S. Spartanburg plant in April 2004.
Extensive
modification work was commenced at this site
towards the year-end and will be continued in the
coming years. This involves the conversion of the
assembly area from two separate assembly lines for
the BMW X5 and Z4 models into a single assembly
line so as to maximise production flexibility.
The new plant in Shenyang, North China, con-
structed in conjunction with the distribution and
production joint venture with the Chinese partner,
Brilliance Automotive Holdings, was officially opened
in May 2004. Due to tighter availability of credit as
a consequence of economic measures and the re-
sulting reluctance on the part of customers to spend,
the production volume of the joint venture was in-
creased at a slower pace than originally planned.The
medium-term aim of an annual production volume
of 30,000 BMW cars remains unchanged.
More than 112,000 BMW X3 were manufac-
tured in 2004 by the BMW Group’s cooperation
partner, Magna Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik, Graz, Austria.
The range of engines available with this Sports
Automobile production of the BMW Group by plant 2004
in 1,000 units
Dingolfing
Regensburg
Munich
Oxford
Spartanburg
Rosslyn
Goodwood
Shenyang (joint venture)
Contract production Magna Steyr
143.3 189.5
44.4
20.5
0.9
172.2
262.5
304.3
112.8