The times are officially changin’. Now that i3 production has begun, BMW’s oldest manufacturing facility, its home-turf Munich plant, will exclusively build electric vehicles starting next yeaer. This marks a huge turning point for the brand, as it phases out internal combustion models for its Neue Klasse EVs. It isn’t only a production milestone for the brand but a symbolic one. Munich is the site of BMW’s HQ and its Bavarian home, and it’s about to be fully electric.
“The start of production of the BMW i3 heralds a new era for our main plant. With the fully-electric BMW i3, we are bringing together what belongs together: The 3 Series embodies BMW more than almost any other model—and Plant Munich represents our brand more than almost any other production site,” said Raymond Wittmann, BMW board member responsible for production.
Photo by: BMW
Wittmann is right. BMW is the 3 Series company. The BMW 2002—the precursor to the 3 Series—turned the brand into the Ultimate Driving Machine we know today. And Munich has always been the main 3 Series production facility, even when BMW started to expand production elsewhere. More than nine million 3ers have left Munich since 1975, when the first one was introduced. While the combustion 3 Series will live on for at least another generation, it will be built elsewhere and the Neue Klasse-based i3 is the future of the model. So to see the i3 replace the combustion 3 Series in Munich is a big deal.
An added bonus for BMW is a 10% reduction in manufacturing costs. Improvements to automation and digitization are increasing efficiency and bringing costs down.
Photo by: BMW
The of the Munich factory becoming EV-only is that BMW’s main HQ is shaped like four cylinders bunched together, to represent the four-cylinder engines that made BMW famous. Now, no engines are being built in Munich. The main building represents BMW’s past and its history, while the factory represents its future.