Best prospects for the BMW Group in the Upper Palatinate – Investing in Plant Regensburg and continuing to hire

Best prospects for the BMW Group in the Upper Palatinate – Investing in Plant Regensburg and continuing to hire


+++ Very high capacity utilization, with annual production of 238,301 vehicles in 2023 – Higher production figures expected in 2024

+++ International market launch of the new BMW X2 in early March

+++ 600 new jobs in 2024

+++ A further investment of €200 million to secure the long-term future of Regensburg and Wackersdorf

Regensburg. Prospects look good for the BMW Group in the Upper Palatinate: Plant Director Armin Ebner has high hopes for 2024. “Since we added the night shift last autumn, our daily production has already increased by around 300 vehicles, to around 1,300 now. Our annual production in 2023 was 238,301 vehicles. This means that, last year, almost one in ten BMWs produced worldwide came from Regensburg.

“This confirms the strong customer appeal of the compact class models built in Regensburg, the BMW X1 and BMW X2,” emphasizes Ebner. The second generation BMW X2 went into production in Regensburg in November. The global market launch of the car developed exclusively at the BMW Group Plant Regensburg took place on March 2. Its main markets will be China, the United States and Europe.

Ebner expects a further increase in the number of cars produced in Regensburg in 2024. To be more precise, the plant will be able to produce more than 300,000 units per year, if it is confirmed by market demand. The production of electric models, in particular, is expected to increase significantly: In 2024, at least one in three BMWs leaving the BMW Group’s Bavarian car plants should be an electric car – and the same applies to Regensburg.

“With the BMW iX1 and BMW iX2, we will continue to inspire customers around the world with the joy of electric driving from Regensburg,” says Ebner. Europe is an important sales market for the fully electric BMW iX2. In its home market of Germany, for example, the BMW iX1 was the ninth most popular electric vehicle in Germany, with 14,694 new vehicle registrations in 2023, according to the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA).

The high-capacity batteries for electric vehicles built in Regensburg are produced at the Leibnizstraße site, next to the car factory. “Our location in Leibnizstraße provides important support for the transformation. The fact that we produced more than 100,000 high-voltage batteries here last year is proof of the improvement in electrical efficiency in Regensburg,” explains Ebner. To meet the different needs of customers in all regions of the world, Regensburg will also continue to develop vehicles with an internal combustion engine as part of the mix on the assembly line.

Commissioning of the battery testing center in Wackersdorf from mid-2024

The Wackersdorf area is also set to become a major enabler of e-mobility: “The first deliveries from our new battery testing facility will start regular operation in Wackersdorf from mid-2024 onwards,” says Ebner. The new testing facility, covering an area of ​​more than 8,000 square meters, will be integrated into the existing building structures of the site. Here, high-power batteries and other powertrain components for future models of the BMW Group will be put through their paces at a very early stage of development – before the start of production.

A building with history: Originally intended as a recycling centre,

600 new jobs planned by the end of 2024

This high level of production is also reflected in the development of the workforce. “We already hired more than 500 new employees in 2023. For 2024, we plan to hire another 600 for our production,” explains Ebner. The site is looking to hire workers in skills shortage areas, such as maintenance and electronics. “But we’ll also be removing the natural handicaps caused by people leaving the plant due to age,” Ebner continued. The BMW Group Plant Regensburg will hire 120 new apprentices in the summer as well. “This will include the training of eight apprentices for our newly planned site in Straßkirchen here in Regensburg.” The BMW Group’s core workforce at its Regensburg and Wackersdorf sites in eastern Bavaria currently has a total of 9,250 employees.

Production of the new BMW iX2 at the BMW Group Plant in Regensburg - car assembly (10/2023)

An investment of 200 million Euros in securing a long-term future – preparing for the production of the NEUE KLASSE from the second half of the decade.

By the end of 2024, a total of approximately €200 million will be directed to the areas of Regensburg and Wackersdorf. Ebner: “The prospects for both sites look very good. This new investment will help us secure the long-term future of both stations. At the same time, it is also an investment in the Upper Palatinate as an industrial area.

At the same time as the construction of the current models, the car factory in Regensburg is also preparing for the production of the next model generation, which will increase in the second half of the decade. “With the NEUE KLASSE, the company aims to set new standards for digital localization, electrification and circuitry – and we are already preparing for this in Regensburg. During the production break over the New Year, we completed the first major modifications, including to the assembly of our car. More detailed structural measures will be implemented at the beginning of the year 2024/2025,” explains Ebner.

Armin Ebner, head of BMW Group plant Regensburg (10/2023)

Comprehensive resource conservation programs
The BMW Group Plants Regensburg and Wackersdorf are also investing in resource conservation. Efforts range from transportation to biodiversity, and from water management to new resource-efficient production methods. “For example, at the beginning of the year, we changed one of the two primary lines of our paint shop to a dry separator using lime powder. The second line – due to production reasons – will be changed in August 2025.

This approach will save the BMW Group plant sites in Regensburg and Dingolfing a total of 17 million liters of water and around 17,400 megawatt hours of energy per year. “Changing the painting process moves us another step closer to the BMW Group’s goal of reducing CO2 production throughout the vehicle’s life cycle by 40 percent by 2030,” emphasizes Ebner.

The BMW Group Plant Regensburg also invested in water-efficient practices in 2023. Renovating its cooling systems has reduced the plant’s total water consumption by five percent, saving approximately 53 million liters of water per year.

BMW Group Regensburg plant, paint shop (12/2023)

Digitization according to BMW iFACTORY principles

When implementing the BMW iFACTORY, the BMW Group also aims to digitize the Regensburg factory site to create a digital and intelligent connected factory. “We follow a holistic approach that brings together people, processes and systems. Digitization improves processes and helps our employees do their jobs – because people will continue to be the backbone of our production,” says Ebner.

For example, BMW Group Plant Regensburg is the first automotive plant worldwide to use a digital and automated end-to-end process for the inspection, processing and marking of painted vehicle surfaces in routine production based on AI-controlled robots (artificial intelligence) .

BMW Group Plant Regensburg, car assembly: Smart maintenance using artificial intelligence - Predictive maintenance (11/2023)

“My goal is for us to be pioneers, to create change together with our excellent plant team, so that we can defend our international position – and so the mobility ‘made in the Upper Palatinate’ can continue to inspire people all over the world in the future. ,” concludes Ebner.


BMW Group Corporate Communications

Saskia Graser, Head of Communications Regensburg and Wackersdorf

Mobile: +49 151 6060 2014, Email: Saskia.Graser@bmw.de

Press website: www.press.bmwgroup.com

Email: presse@bmw.de

BMW Group Plants Regensburg and Wackersdorf

The BMW Group has seen itself for decades as a benchmark for production technology and operational excellence in vehicle construction – including at its sites in Regensburg and Wackersdorf.
The BMW Group car plant in Regensburg has been in operation since 1986 and is one of more than 30 BMW Group production sites worldwide. A total of up to 1,300 vehicles of the BMW X1 and BMW X2 models roll off the production line at Plant Regensburg every working day – destined for customers around the world. Different types of powertrains are easily manufactured on a single production line – from cars with internal combustion engines to plug-in hybrids, to fully electric models.

The high-voltage batteries for the electric models built in Regensburg are also produced locally, in direct proximity to the car factory. They are assembled in the production center of the electric part, which opened in 2021 in the Leibnizstrasse area.
The BMW Innovation Park Wackersdorf also belongs to the Regensburg site. The 55-hectare campus built in the 1980s was intended as a nuclear reprocessing facility. The BMW Group has located its cockpit production there, as well as its parts supply to overseas plants. In addition to BMW as the largest employer, several other companies are also located in the Innovation Park Wackersdorf. A total of around 2,500 employees work there.

The BMW Group’s core workforce in Regensburg and Wackersdorf in eastern Bavaria comprises approximately 9,250 employees, including more than 300 students.

www.bmwgroup-werke.com/regensburg/de.html