“Made in Germany”: BMW Invests About Two Billion Euros in the New 3 Series
Overview
BMW Group is investing around two billion euros in vehicle production and battery manufacturing to underline Germany’s importance as a production location. The money prepares its plants for the eighth-generation BMW 3 Series, which has been the heart of the brand for over 50 years. About 18 million have been built since 1975, 15 million of them in Germany, making it the world’s most successful premium mid-size car. Roughly one billion euros goes to further developing the Munich and Dingolfing vehicle plants, and another billion to the new Irlbach-Straßkirchen battery plant in Lower Bavaria.
Management View
Raymond Wittmann, the board member for production, said the company is investing in value creation, competitive production, and job security in Germany. He said the new plant shows how key electromobility technology is being brought back to the home base. He added that conditions enabling investment, innovation, and competitiveness are essential for industrial value creation to keep succeeding in Germany.
Who Builds What
The all-electric BMW i3 is built at the heavily renovated Munich parent plant using sixth-generation high-voltage batteries from the new Irlbach-Straßkirchen plant. The combustion-engine and plug-in hybrid 3 Series variants are built at the Dingolfing plant. Following a “local for local” principle, the same standards will apply in Mexico, where the i3 and 3 Series will be built at San Luis Potosí, and in Shenyang, China, where a modified 3 Series for the Chinese market will be made.
Commitment to Germany
Germany is the heart of BMW Group production, with more than one million vehicles built there each year, about a quarter of all cars produced in the country. Domestic output exceeds the group’s total sales in Europe. About 55 percent of BMW Group employees work in Germany, along with thousands of partner companies. As production ramps up, around 760 supplier locations will supply the Munich and Dingolfing plants, more than 70 percent in Europe and more than 30 percent in Germany.
Two Plants, Two Paths
The 3 Series has rolled off the line continuously in Munich since 1975, where it will now be joined by the all-electric i3, and it has been built intermittently in Dingolfing since 1980. In Munich, BMW invested in new buildings and facilities for Neue Klasse technologies, turning the more than 100-year-old plant into a state-of-the-art “electric only” location. Dingolfing, with its flexible range of models, builds combustion-engine and plug-in hybrid versions for customers worldwide, using a new body shop line while the cars join the existing mix in the assembly area and paint shop.
Irlbach-Straßkirchen
The battery plant will assemble sixth-generation high-voltage batteries and, from October onward, supply battery systems for the i3 to the Munich plant. BMW presents it as an example of establishing high-tech industry in Germany through close cooperation among companies, politicians, local authorities, and government officials. BMW has been active in Lower Bavaria for nearly six decades, and the investment supports regional suppliers, service providers, and mid-size companies while keeping industrial expertise in the region.
Wider Significance
The 3 Series is the next step in gradually bringing Neue Klasse technologies into BMW’s core portfolio. By the end of 2027, the company will have put around 40 new or revised models with these technologies on the road. BMW frames the 3 Series as a symbol of innovation, modern production performance, the successful transformation of existing plants, and its commitment to Germany as an industrial home base.