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BMW Ponders a Factory in Russia
BMW AG tells Automotive New Europe it may open its own assembly plant in Russia, now that the country’s car market is climbing out of a sales slump that began in 2013.
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BMW AG tells Automotive New Europe it may open its own assembly plant in Russia, now that the country’s car market is climbing out of a sales slump that began in 2013.
The potential project would follow a plan by rival Daimler AG to begin making Mercedes-Benz vehicles outside Moscow in 2019. Earlier reports said Daimler’s €200 million ($237 million) facility will have the capacity to build 30,000 vehicles from imported kits.
BMW already assembles imported kits in Kaliningrad through local partner ZAO Avtotor. The German carmaker indicates that a new factory would involve Avtotor and might also be located in Kaliningrad. The company did not say when it will decide on the project, when the facility would begin operations or what it would produce.
Russian demand for BMW-brand vehicles rose 6% to 21,900 units through the first nine months of 2017, according to the Moscow-based Assn. of European Businesses. The company sold 37,500 vehicles in Russia in 2012.
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