BMW 2013 Annual Report Download - page 33

33 COMBINED MANAGEMENT REPORT
More than one million vehicles produced in Germany
for third consecutive year
For the third year in a row, the Group manufactured
over one million vehicles at its German plants. The
pro-
duction start-up of the BMW 4 Series Coupé commenced
at the Group’s main plant in Munich. In future the plant
will be demonstrating its high degree of flexibility by
producing three different BMW 3 Series and BMW 4 Se-
ries models on one and the same production line. The
BMW 4 Series Coupé is the basic model for the BMW M4
Coupé, the production of which was prepared at the
Munich main plant over the course of 2013 and is
scheduled to start in 2014. During the year under report,
247,330 vehicles were manufactured in Munich – more
than ever before.
Production of the BMW 4 Series Convertible began at
the Regensburg plant in 2013. In addition, the plant
celebrated the topping-out ceremony for its new supply
centre. The expansion of logistics structures is keeping
pace with the increased need for materials and plays
a key role in making the supply of parts for assembly
even more efficient. In parallel to these changes, further
progress was made to increase bodymaking capacity at
the plant, a process initiated in the previous year.
Pro-
duction capacity in the pressing plant was also expanded
with the commissioning into service of a new pressing
facility based on high-speed servo technology.
The BMW Group hired 700 new employees at its pro-
duction
plant in Leipzig in 2013, mainly to build up
expertise and create capacity for its BMW i models, but
also in the area of conventional carmaking. More over,
two new pressing lines employing high-speed servo
pressing technology were taken into service at the BMW
Leipzig plant with a view to increasing production
depth and flexibility in general. Series production of the
BMW 2 Series Coupé began in November. In parallel,
staff at the plant also made preparations for manufac-
turing
the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer from 2014 on-
wards, the first BMW model to be produced with front-
wheel drive.
In autumn the Dingolfing plant celebrated its 40th anni-
versary as a BMW production location. We were again
able to increase flexibility at the plant over the course of
the year. After a ten-year absence, the production start-
up of the 3 Series Gran Turisimo in spring heralded
the
return of a BMW 3 Series model to the Dingolfing
plant. Simultaneously, the plant began manufactur-
ing
the BMW M6 Gran Coupé. The number of vehicles
produced per day stood at the record level of some
1,500 units. Further good progress was made in ramping
up capacity at the plant, with construction work contin-
uing for a new bodymaking facility on a 25-hectare ex-
pansion area. One further major construction measure
undertaken at the Dingolfing plant was the ground,
breaking ceremony for the installation of a new high-
speed servo press.
At the components plant in Landshut in November, a
new die-casting foundry and a new core-moulding plant
were taken into operation. As the only BMW produc-
tion site to date that produces lightweight die-cast alloy
parts, it is now better able to serve the growing demand
for these components within the Group. The plant’s
production capacity now stands at 69,000 tons, which is
equivalent to some five million die-cast parts per year.
Global presence strengthened
Over 45 % of the BMW Group’s vehicles were manufac-
tured abroad during the year under report. The
pro-
duction of the BMW 3 Series Sedan started at the Tiexi*
plant in the Chinese city of Shenyang at the beginning
of the year. Operations at this plant had only begun in
2012 and by September 2013, the 100,000th vehicle was
rolling off the assembly line. The BMW 5 Series long-
wheelbase Sedan is manufactured at the Dadong* plant
in China. In July, the 100,000th four-cylinder petrol en-
gine made for the Chinese market came off the
produc-
tion line at the engine manufacturing plant in Shenyang.
At the same time, preparations got underway at the
site
for the construction of a further plant to supply en-
gines for local production.
In August 2013 the US plant in Spartanburg began manu-
facturing the new generation of the BMW X5. Since
2010, production capacity at the plant has practically
doubled. In the medium term, the plan is to increase ca-
pacity to accommodate up to 350,000 units per annum.
As from next year, as competence centre for the BMW X
models, the plant will also produce the BMW X4, the
latest addition to the X family. Furthermore, since this
year the American plant has been operating the world’s
largest connected fleet of hydrogen / fuel-cell-driven in-
dustrial logistics vehicles.
The BMW plant in Rosslyn, South Africa, has been run-
ning on a 24-hour basis in three shifts since 2012 and –
despite an eight-week strike in the car industry affecting
the entire country – manufactured a record volume of
65,646 units in 2013.
The BMW Group’s assembly plants in Egypt, India,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia and Thailand – whose
* Joint venture BMW Brilliance.