The Leipzig plant itself has long played a pioneering role in electromobility at BMW. Between 2013 and 2022, it produced the compact BMW i3 , the group’s first mass-produced battery-electric vehicle. Now, BMW is reviving the i3 name for a new all-electric saloon based on the ‘Neue Klasse’ electric platform which is now available to order. While production of this new i3 is set to begin at BMW’s Munich plant from August, the facility in Leipzig will soon also begin producing battery-electric vehicles based on the ‘Neue Klasse’ platform.
“We are preparing for the ‘Neue Klasse’,” Plant Director Petra Peterhänsel recently told the dpa news agency – with these preparations amounting to a five-and-a-half-week upgrade programme at the Leipzig automotive factory this summer. BMW has not yet revealed which specific electric model or models will be produced there. However, it is well known that the Munich-based manufacturer currently only produces compact models in Leipzig, specifically the BMW 1 Series, the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupé, the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, and the Mini Countryman, which is also available as a battery-electric version. Accordingly, a larger model exceeding 4.50 metres in length would come as a surprise for Leipzig.
Amid the plant’s 20th anniversary last year, BMW announced hundreds of millions of euros in investments to expand and modernise its facilities and infrastructure in Leipzig. This was to prepare the plant for future vehicle generations – which, even then, likely referred to the ‘Neue Klasse’. Additionally, Works Council Chairman Jens Köhler demanded at the end of 2023 that Leipzig should play a more significant role in BMW’s battery-electric vehicle production in the future.
Since the start of series production on 1 March 2005, over 4 million vehicles have rolled off the production line at the BMW plant in Leipzig. The BMW Group has invested more than €5.6 billion euros in the site since then, creating 6,680 jobs. Including employees from service providers, such as those in intralogistics, over 11,600 people work at the plant.
handelsblatt.com (DE)
