A new chapter in South Africa’s automotive story began this week as BMW Group South Africa started production of the new BMW X3 at its Rosslyn plant. In 2015, BMW announced a R6bn investment into South Africa in order to prepare Plant Rosslyn for the BMW X3 production. This week, is the culmination of three years of hard work and planning resulting in production starting on time in Rosslyn.
Tim Abbott, CEO of BMW Group South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, says the successful ramp-up of production of the BMW X3 at Rosslyn is a vote of confidence in the country and in BMW Group South Africa’s associates.
“The allocation of production of such a crucial model to our plant is about as big a vote of confidence as it gets,” Abbott says. “The demand for the BMW X3 globally is powerful, and ramping up on time and to the right standards is vital to the model’s success.”
“I have full confidence in our associates and plant management at Rosslyn. This is the team that won the coveted JD Power Platinum award in 2015, showing that a South African plant can lead the world in terms of quality,” Abbott says.
Plant Rosslyn was the first plant built by BMW outside of Germany. The plant built the 3 Series for 35 years, manufacturing a total of 1,191,604 units during the period, and increasing production with every model. With a planned maximum capacity of 71,000 units of the BMW X3, which was later increased to 76,000, Plant Rosslyn has the opportunity to flexibly match volumes to demand.
