The three-millionth electrified vehicle rolled off the assembly line today at the BMW Group’s main plant in Munich, a BMW 330e Touring (PHEV) in Portimao Blue, destined for the UK market.
In 2024, one in four vehicles sold by the company were already either fully electric or plug-in hybrids. At BMW Group plants, vehicles with electrified drive trains and internal combustion engines are produced alongside one another on the same production line.
“With its highly flexible production, the BMW Group can respond to customer requirements in line with market trends and demand,” explains Milan Nedeljković, member of the Board of Management responsible for Production. “All plants in our global production network are enabled for electromobility, paving the way for continued growth in this segment.”
It started in 2013
The company launched series production of fully electric vehicles with the BMW i3 back in 2013. The electric city car was manufactured for nearly ten years and some 350,000 units at Plant Leipzig, alongside the BMW Group’s first plug-in hybrid, the BMW i8. At that time, due to its unique vehicle architecture, the BMW i3 was still being built in Leipzig in a dedicated area for electric cars, alongside the production of vehicles with conventional drivetrains.
Since then, the BMW Group has integrated electric cars into production at all its plants worldwide. Many of the plants initially assembled plug-in hybrid models on a single line, mixed in with their diesel and petrol counterparts, on a flexible basis. Electromobility now accounts for a steadily growing share of production volumes, surpassing 25% in 2024, with around three-quarters of those vehicles being fully electric. A total of 1.5 million BEVs from the BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce brands have already been delivered, accounting for half of the total number of electrified vehicles produced.
Global production for e-mobility
With the start of Mini Cooper SE production in Oxford in 2019, the BEV range was extended to the BMW Group’s second brand. The rollout continued from 2020 with the latest generation of e-drives. The BMW iX3 was built in China, while the BMW iX and i4 ramped up in Dingolfing and Munich in 2021. Within a year, all BMW Group plants in Germany had been enabled for the production of fully electric vehicles. The company remains committed to systematically integrating electrified vehicles into existing production.
In China, electrification has already been introduced at all plant sites. In the US, Plant Spartanburg is preparing for the production of fully electric vehicles from 2026, while Plant San Luis Potosí in Mexico will add BEV models for the ‘Neue Klasse’ to its production portfolio in 2027. Both facilities already produce plug-in hybrid models. The plant in Rosslyn, South Africa, has been manufacturing plug-in hybrids since 2024. The BMW Group’s sites for local production in Brazil, India, and Thailand have also already built electrified vehicles.
Competence Center needed
Production of electric powertrain components is expanding beyond Germany. Since the launch of the BMW i3, battery modules, high-voltage batteries, and electric motors have been produced in Dingolfing. As part of the electrification of the production network, a Competence Center for E-Drive Production was established at the site.
By 2022, it had already reached an annual capacity of over 500,000 e-drives. Other locations gradually ramped up capacity to support the rapid growth in e-mobility. As a result, alongside Dingolfing, fifth-generation high-voltage batteries are now also assembled and installed in vehicles in Regensburg, Leipzig, and Spartanburg.
The expertise gained since then is now being applied to the sixth generation of e-drives, which will be introduced towards the end of this year with the ‘Neue Klasse’ at the new plant in Debrecen, Hungary. Other plants will follow in 2026 and 2027.
