Status: 20.11.2023, 16:50 PM
By: Simon Mones
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The last internal combustion engine for cars was built at the BMW plant in Munich. But customers don't have to say goodbye completely. The engines now come from abroad.
The days of the combustion engine are numbered. At least at BMW's main plant in Munich. After more than 60 years, the last engine was built there a few days ago, as reported by Bayerischer Rundfunk. However, this step did not come as a surprise, as the Bavarian carmaker had already announced in November 2020 that only electric cars would be built at the company's headquarters in the future.
BMW relocates engine production abroad
"The relocation of Munich's engine production will take place gradually by 2024 at the latest," BMW announced in a press release at the time. The last engine – an eight-cylinder – left the factory on schedule. However, diesel and petrol engines are far from over for the Munich-based company. In the future, these will come from the plants in Steyr in Austria and Hams Hall in Great Britain. The 1,200 employees of engine production have all been retrained and transferred to other areas, explained a BMW spokeswoman at the request of BR. For motorcycles, on the other hand, combustion engines will continue to be produced at the Berlin plant, reports the Berliner Zeitung.
In the future, BMW engines will be built in Austria and Great Britain. © BMW
While other manufacturers have already formulated clear exit targets, BMW is keeping the end of the combustion engine open. However, it should be ready by 2035 at the latest. Then the EU's ban on combustion engines is to come into force, even if there will probably be an exception for engines with e-fuels. In all likelihood, however, the future belongs to electric cars.
BMW to invest 2026 million euros in Munich by 400
For the main plant in Munich, this future is already beginning. This is because a new production line for cars is being built where engines for diesel and gasoline engines have been built so far. By 2026, BMW will invest 400 million euros in new vehicle assembly.
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"We are continuously developing the Munich plant in the direction of electromobility and creating efficient and competitive production structures for this," explained BMW Head of Production Milan Nedeljković in 2020. "This decision is a strong commitment to Munich as a business location." But it is not only in Munich that the carmaker is spending a lot of money. A battery test center is to be built in Wackersdorf. BMW is also building its own battery factory in the municipalities of Straßkirchen and Irlbach, after local residents voted in favour of it in September.
