Part of a R6-billion investment announced back in 2015 followed by further R160-million injection in October last year, the plant is expected to produce between 71 000 to 76 000 X3s annually, making it the highest production run in its history. Until now, South African bound X3 models have been sourced from BMW's Spartanburg, South Carolina Plant in the United States.
"We look back with great pride over an extraordinary career path of the production of the five generations of the BMW 3-series at Plant Rosslyn," BMW Group South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa CEO Tim Abbot said in a statement.
"Over the years, the development of our production and export programme has been the catalyst for our sustainable growth and contribution to the South African economy. With the imminent production of the new BMW X3, we remain a committed and engaged corporate citizen dedicated to the upliftment of South Africa and its people".
According to Plant Rosslyn's Director Stefan Hülsenberg, "Plans to create a centre of production excellence at our plant are well under way with the largest infrastructure upgrade in the history of the facility now completed and staff up-skilled in state-of-the-art technologies. Localisation strategies are in progress, and we are confident that the new BMW X3 will be more localised than the BMW 3-series we've produced."
