Production at the BMW Plant Rosslyn dates back to 1968, when Praetor Monteerders began assembling cars, using BMW engines and drivetrains fitted to Hans Glas sheet metal, pressed and shipped from Dingolfing in Germany. In 1973, BMW AG took over full shareholding and established BMW Group South Africa (Pty) Ltd with BMW Plant Rosslyn becoming the BMW Group’s first manufacturing facility outside of Germany.
Since then, the BMW Group has been a major investor in South Africa and its people, with BMW Plant Rosslyn moving from a limited vehicle-production plant that merely assembled vehicles with a few customisation possibilities for the local market, to a world-class plant, capable of producing highly customised cars for customers across the globe.
The next generation of the popular compact SUV will also be exported to other markets. BMW has decided to move the production of the 3 Series to other global production networks. More than R3-billion will be invested in new state-of-the-art facilities and operations of the plant. An additional R3-billion will be for suppliers, launch costs and training of associates.
BMW’s Managing Director, Tim Abbott said that the potential for Africa as a future market for exports as well as the newly reviewed Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP) enables South Africa to play a significant role in the manufacturing industry and production of high quality cars. This is evident in the JD Power Platinum Plant Quality award, which the brand received earlier this year.
Minister of Trade and Industry, Rob Davies, says the investment is testament to the important partnership that exists between business and government as well as the role that business is playing in the development of the economy.
Read more on the BMW X3 here
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