BMW 2012 Annual Report Download - page 29

29 COMBINED GROUP AND COMPANY MANAGEMENT REPORT
built in Spartanburg as the latest member of the X Series
family. For the first time, more than 300,000 vehicles were
produced at the Spartanburg plant during a single year.
The production start-up of the new BMW 3 Series Sedan
commenced at our plant in Rosslyn, South Africa, at the
beginning of 2012. Among other improvements, the
plant’s IT and logistics infrastructure was renewed in ad-
vance,
in order to accommodate a capacity of 90,000 units
in the medium term and further raise the efficiency of
the plant.
The assembly plants that mainly serve regional markets
are also steadily growing. The BMW Group manufac-
tured over 38,000 units at its production sites in Egypt,
India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia and Thailand. The
production start-up of new models such as the BMW X3
and the 3 Series Sedan has also begun successfully.
A further member of the BMW Group’s production
network is planned for Brazil, where the market shows
great promise for the future. Following the receipt of
approval from the Brazilian government at the begin-
ning of 2013, we now plan to manufacture up to 30,000
vehicles there per annum.
Expansion of MINI and Rolls-Royce production
The British production triangle comprising the MINI
plant in Oxford, the component plant in Swindon and
engine production in Hams Hall is an important element
of the BMW Group’s production network. The focal
point of MINI production is in Oxford, where not only
the MINI Hatch, the Convertible and the Clubman are
manufactured, but also the Coupé and the Roadster.
In order to secure further capacity for the intended
growth of the MINI brand, the BMW Group entered into
an agreement in 2012 with the Dutch VDL NedCar bv
involving the contract production of MINI automobiles
in the Netherlands as from 2014.
The MINI models Countryman and Paceman are already
being produced under contract by the company Magna
Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik in Austria. After the successful
start-up of the MINI Paceman, over 100,000 vehicles were
again produced at the plant for the BMW Group in 2012.
Capacity at the Rolls-Royce manufacturing plant in
Goodwood, England, was also raised during the year
under report. We enlarged both the production facilities
and the paint shop in preparation for future models and
to meet high demand, particularly for bespoke vehicles.
Engine production network becoming increasingly
globalised
The engine production network is also constantly grow-
ing and, parallel to the vehicle manufacturing plant in
Tiexi, the BMW Brilliance Automotive joint venture
opened a new engine plant in Shenyang in 2012, which
supplies the two Chinese carmaking plants with the
latest generation of 4-cylinder combustion engines. The
new engine plant, of which there are now four in the
BMW Group’s network, was opened after only a 12-month
construction period. More than 42,000 engines were
manufactured at the plant in 2012.
Due to the strong demand for 4-cylinder petrol-driven
engines worldwide, engine-building capacities at the
Munich plant were fully utilized, with a daily manufac-
ture
of up to 1,600 engines in 2012. Almost 388,000 en-
gines were manufactured at the plant. The range of
products manufactured at the Munich plant also includes
8- and 12-cylinder petrol engines as well as 6-cylinder
diesel engines for the new M Performance models.
In future, the new BMW Efficient Dynamics family of
engines will also be built there and the task of setting
up production, logistics and assembly lines began dur-
ing the year under report. The 3-cylinder engine is the
first representative of a new modular engine that ena-
bles
production to be managed with even greater flexi-
bility.
It will be produced in close cooperation with the
engine plants in Hams Hall and Steyr.
The largest engine plant in the BMW Group in Steyr
celebrated its 30th year of production in 2012. Prepara-
tions are currently underway for the start-up of the
new generation of modular engines. In 2012 over one mil-
lion
(1,035,902) engines were produced in Steyr, bring-
ing the total number of engines manufactured since
commencement of series production at the plant to over
15 million. Currently BMW 4- and 6-cylinder diesel en-
gines, 6-cylinder petrol engines and MINI diesel engines
are manufactured in Steyr.
More than 3 million engines have been manufactured
at the Hams Hall plant since production commenced in
2001, almost 400,000 (395,854) of which were built in
2012. Preparations for the production of future genera-
tions of engines at the plant also include the propulsion
unit for the new BMW i8, which is scheduled to be pro-
duced exclusively in Hams Hall.