BMW Said to Weigh Setting Up North American Engine Plant [View all]
By Christoph Rauwald - Dec 11, 2013
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), the world’s biggest maker of luxury cars, is considering building engines in North America for the first time and expanding vehicle production in the region to capitalize on growing demand, three people familiar with the matter said.
BMW may establish a motor factory in Mexico or the U.S., and the Munich-based company could potentially decide on the project in 2014, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are confidential.
The carmaker would join German premium-auto rival Mercedes-Benz in producing engines in the region as Asian and U.S. rivals already do. Mercedes will start using motors next year built at a Nissan Motor Co. (7201) plant in Tennessee. BMW has largely restricted its engine-making to Europe, only announcing a plan last year to build 4-cylinder units in Shenyang, China, to supply the company’s local car plants in Dadong and Tiexi.
“Engine technology is BMW’s core competence,” Juergen Pieper, a Frankfurt-based analyst at Bankhaus Metzler, said by phone. “Establishing local motor manufacturing abroad is more complex than assembling cars, but it’s a logical step for them to eventually start making engines in markets where they’re expanding vehicle production,” to reduce the cost of logistics and mitigate currency effects.
more...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-11/bmw-said-to-weigh-setting-up-north-american-engine-plant.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
