BMW 2005 Annual Report Download - page 20

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of 2004. Production at the Regensburg, Leipzig
and
Rosslyn (South Africa) plants began in 2005. With the
benefit of experience gained at the BMW Munich
plant to fall back on, this phased start-up process
achieved a considerably higher start-up volume than
previous generations of the BMW 3 Series. Over the
course of 2005, production was rolled out at short
intervals to the Shenyang plant and to the assembly
plants in Egypt, Indonesia, Russia and Thailand.
At the BMW Dingolfing plant production was
modified for the revised BMW 7 Series in 2005. New
features included five new engines, new external
and upholstery colours and optional extras. Thanks
to thorough preparation, the changes were imple-
mented seamlessly and without production down-
time. In addition to the BMW 7 Series, vehicles of
the BMW 5 and 6 Series are manufactured at the
BMW Dingolfing plant.
As part of the process of expanding facilities
for the BMW 1 Series, the Regensburg site was
geared up at an early stage for the production of
the new BMW 3 Series. Forward-looking production
planning, standardised processes and a highly
trained workforce enable the manufacture of various
versions of the BMW 3 Series, BMW 1 Series and,
since February 2005, the new BMW 3 Series Sedan,
to be carried out on one line at the BMW Regens-
burg plant. The three millionth vehicle was manu-
factured in March 2005, 18 years after the start of
production at the Regensburg site.
New bodywork construction facilities were com-
pleted at the BMW Rosslyn plant in South Africa for
the new BMW 3 Series and for future models. Various
other modifications were implemented for the pro-
duction of the new vehicle. Total capital expenditure
for these measures amounted to euro 164 million.
A long-term training programme was put in place to
prepare the workforce for the new product. Approxi-
mately 40,300 new BMW 3 Series Sedans were
assembled in South Africa during the first ten months
of production.
The new BMW Leipzig plant was officially
opened on 13 May 2005. The BMW Group has in-
vested some euro 1.3 billion in the new Leipzig pro-
duction site during the period from 2001 to 2005.
Serial production of the new BMW 3 Series Sedan
started on 1 March 2005. Between then and the
end of 2005, more than 55,000 BMW 3 Series cars
have been manufactured in Leipzig.The high quality
achieved demonstrates the maturity of plant and
equipment and processes, and, above all, the excel-
lent skills and motivation of the workforce.
On 16 December 2005, the highly acclaimed
German Prize for Architecture 2005 was awarded
to the London-based architect, Zaha Hadid, for the
central building of the new plant. With this building,
the BMW Leipzig plant is carrying on the tradition
of functional-aesthetic edifices which started with
the BMW Tower in Munich in 1972 and will con-
tinue with the new BMW World building in Munich
in 2007.
The BMW X5 and BMW Z4 Roadster are
manufactured at the BMW Spartanburg plant.The
construction of the 500,000th BMW X5 since
production started in 1999 was celebrated there
towards the middle of 2005. In January 2006, pro-
duction was adapted for the revised model version
of the BMW Z4. At the turn of 2005/2006 the
BMW Spartanburg plant converted from a dual to
a single-line production system.This measure will
improve flexibility of production even further: the
X5 and X4 are now manufactured jointly on the
same production line. Preparations are already un-
derway in the bodywork construction area for future
models.
The plant in Shenyang, North China, which is
operated by the distribution and production joint
venture, BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd, manufac-
tures BMW 3 and 5 Series models for the Chinese
market. By the year-end, more than 8,000 BMW 3
and 5 Series cars, including the new BMW 3 Series,
had been manufactured in China. Following certain