BMW plans to move the manufacturing of combustion engine cars to plants in Austria and England, while it focuses on building electric vehicles (EVs) and their components at its German plants.
The automaker will invest €400mn ($474.2mn) in retooling its Munich facility, which will be dedicated to producing EVs hereinafter. The factory currently manufactures BMW’s four, six, eight and ten-cylinder internal combustion cars. Production of these models will move to Hams Hall in the UK and Steyr in Austria.
The German carmaker also plans to improve its cost structure by €500mn by the end of 2020, and will increase staffing at Dingolfing by 2000 workers. Its Leipzig factory is also being prepared to make battery modules for the EVs.
Recently, Germany announced a €3bn investment on promotion of low-emission vehicle while Britain has banned sales of petrol and diesel cars from 2030. These changes have triggered the car manufacturer to focus on EV production to remain relevant in the automotive market.
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