BMW Group announced today that its Munich plant will be the first site in its global production network to transition to manufacturing only all-electric vehicles, with the transformation to be completed from the end of 2027.
Established in 1922, the Munich plant initially produced aircraft engines, transitioning in 1948 to producing motorcycles, and in 1952 to automobiles. The plant currently produces approximately 1,000 vehicles per day, of which roughly half are all-electric.
Beginning in 2026, the plant will produce BMW’s Neue Klasse electric sedan, which the company has said will be characterized a completely redefined IT and software architecture, a new generation of high-performance electric drivetrains and batteries, and a radically new approach to sustainability across the entire vehicle life cycle.
BMW stated that it will invest €650 million in the plant to prepare for the transformation, with investments including four buildings, including a new vehicle assembly line with logistics areas and a new body shop.
Peter Weber, Director BMW Group Plant Munich, said:
“Munich is the beating heart of BMW. The plant in Munich is innovative and adaptable. As in the 1960s, a Neue Klasse is again laying the foundation, on which our plant is reinventing itself. The fact that this comprehensive transformation is taking place at the same time as roughly 1,000 vehicles per day are currently being manufactured is common practice in Munich and is possible thanks to the outstanding performance of all our employees.”
The new announcement follows BMW’s commitment in 2021 to expand company efforts to combat climate change, including goals to significantly reduce vehicle emissions throughout the lifecycle, reduce CO2 emissions by 40% per vehicle by 2030, and make a minimum of 50% of its global sales from battery electric vehicles by 2030.
Last year, the company said that its goal to reach 50% global EV sales could be reached earlier than 2030.
Milan Nedeljković, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Production, said:
“The Munich plant is an excellent example of our ability to adapt. We are investing € 650 million here and will produce exclusively all-electric vehicles in our parent plant from the end of 2027. Last year alone, six all-electric models went into production. At the same time, we also set a production record, proving that we are simultaneously able to both deliver and shape the future in our production network.”