Models of the next generation of BMW e-cars, the “New Class”, are scheduled to roll off the assembly line in Mexico from 2027.
(Photo: dpa)
San Luis Potosi The carmaker BMW is investing 800 million euros in electric car production at its Mexican plant in San Luis Potosi. The company announced this on Friday.
The investment will flow into the integration of the “New Class” models and into the construction of a new assembly center for high-voltage batteries in the plant in the central Mexican state of San Potosí. 500 million of the total investment alone is estimated for the battery assembly center.
“We are consistently aligning our production network to electromobility,” said BMW Board Member for Production Milan Nedeljkovicl, who is currently in San Luis Potosí. “In Mexico we are creating around 1000 new jobs.” Nedeljkovicl attended an on-site event with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Models of the next generation of BMW e-cars, the “New Class”, are scheduled to roll off the assembly line there from 2027. The first vehicles will be built in Hungary from 2025.
Mexico is an important automotive location mainly because of its proximity to the important US market and the relatively low labor costs. The plant in San Luis Potosi, which only opened in 2019 and currently has around 3,000 employees, is designed so flexibly that body construction and assembly only have to be slightly adapted for fully electric vehicles.
BMW is already producing the 3 Series sedan, the 2 Series coupé and the M2 there. The new investments are expected to create around 1,000 additional jobs in the Mexican plant.
The ramp-up of e-cars will pick up speed significantly. “In this way, fully electric vehicles could account for 50 percent of the company’s global sales earlier than 2030,” explained BMW.
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