BMW has acquired additional land adjacent to its Rosslyn plant in South Africa to build a new body shop, reports the Mercury. The move is part of the ZAR6 billion (USD393 million) investment plan announced earlier by the automaker to add production of the X3. The report cites BMW South Africa managing director Tim Abbott, who commented during an event in Germany, "That was the first piece of investment. We just broke ground there last week and are beginning to clear the site." Providing further details on the planned investment, Abbott added that nearly ZAR3 billion would be spent on developing the infrastructure, including some new training centres, while the remaining amount would be directed towards hardware. In terms of new technology, nearly 40% of the plant will be renewed for production of the X3, including the new modern body shop. Abbott added that BMW South Africa was responsible for the entire sub-Saharan Africa region, which was previously managed by BMW headquarters in Munich.
Significance: BMW first announced its plans to add production of the X3 to its factory at Rosslyn in November 2015, ahead of the plant's retooling to accommodate the next-generation BMW X3, which will replace production of the BMW 3-Series. The investment will further allow the Rosslyn plant to meet global quality standards set by the industry, and demonstrates BMW's commitment to the South African market. The decision also comes as the automaker views the X3 as "a long term, high-demand vehicle" for countries such as Nigeria, Kenya or Tanzania. The change will be made when the current 3-Series reaches the end of its lifecycle, which IHS Automotive data suggest will be in 2018. Annual production of the X3 has dipped from 160,000 units in 2013, although the current plant arrangement is expected to raise X3 output to 148,000 units by 2016, according to IHS Automotive data. We also forecast that along with the Rosslyn plant, BMW will also start production of the X3 at the Shenyang Dadong facility in China during 2018. This will lift total annual production of the X3 to 182,408 units.
