Rumours are circulating that BMW is set to
manufacture at least one of its Mini range alongside BMW 3-Series and 1-Series
in Mexico.
With Mini production now getting
ready to roll at VDL NedCar in Holland, reports are surfacing that parent BMW
is looking at further possibilities to expand production of the brand in
potentially lower-cost regions close to new and expanding markets.
According to the German
newspaper Handelsblatt, BMW may build the
Mini alongside the BMW 3-Series and 1-Series at a new plant in Mexico.
The newspaper argues that
BMW executives favour Mexico for the factory to build the smallest of the BMW
brand vehicles. It further argues that building the Mini in Mexico alongside
other lower-margin products locally would boost profits.
However, according to a
report in Automotive News Europe, a BMW
spokesperson has said the report was "mere speculation". But of
course BMW would say that, wouldn’t they before any full-blown announcement by BMW
top management?
According to Handelsblatt, BMW’s supervisory board will make a
decision in the second half of the year. Further suggestions put the cost of
the BMW plant at US$1 billion.
Expanding Mini production so
close to the North American market would fit in with BMW policy. And with so
much experience of building the product in the UK and the Netherlands, the
company has a detailed knowledge of the product.
Lessons learnt at Plant
Oxford over the years, coupled with new experience from VDL NedCar, albeing
building the car under sub-contract, puts BMW’s manufacturing engineers in an
ideal position to produce another first class facility, not only in terms of
body and assembly, but in paint shop technology too.
Added to which, equipment
supply companies such as KUKA in Augsburg, Germany, have comprehensive operations
in Mexico and North America which could cope with any substantial order from
BMW.
Indeed, so close is KUKA (above) to
BMW that late in 2012 the car company placed a blanket order for no less than 2,400
KR QUANTEC industrial robots and KR C4 controllers with the Augsburg robot
maker. Delivery of the first machine of this massive order was due to start
early 2013.
KUKA Augsburg has no less
than four operations in Mexico and North America and Mexico: KUKA Systems de
Mexico based in Toluca, Mexico; KUKA systems North America LLC based in Sterling
heights, Michigan; KUKA Toledo Production Systems based in Toledo, Ohio, and
finally, KUKA Assembly and Test operations in Saginaw, Michigan.
Together these divisions of
the robot and systems integrator can deal with almost anything which BMW can
direct in its direction. And, anything that KUKA Systems de Mexico cannot
handle will be more than covered by the other three operations.
KUKA also works closely with
a range of equipment suppliers associated with body-in-white (BIW) line
building, which is perhaps KUKA’s key speciality, including spot welding and
other methods of joining.
And, as with the
introduction of Mini production at VDL NedCar on a sub-contract basis, the new
facility will provide an opportunity for Mini design and manufacturing staff based
in Munich, Germany, and Oxford, UK, to transfer and replicate their much-valued
knowledge and expertise to a brand new facility.
The prospect of Mini
production in Mexico raises the whole question of engine supply for BMW
products made in that country. Should any further development take place on
this front then another German equipment supplier, machine tool supplier Grob-Werke
GmbH of Mindelheim, could be in the front line.
Even at this moment, Grob-Werke
is busy with engine line expansion at BMW’s Hams Hall facilities in the West
midlands, UK. Grob-Werke has facilities too in Bluffton, USA and Sao Paulo,
Brazil.
Meanwhile, in a separate
report from El Economista, Francisco González
of investment promotion agency ProMexico has said that both Hyundai and BMW are
planning to develop plants in the country, investing US$2 billion.
Although these reports have
been circulating for some time, no doubt in part fostered by sources in Mexico keen
to encourage further investment into the region, there is more than an element
of probability to them.
Although BMW has yet to
confirm its plans, it is well known from various top-level pronouncements in Munich,
Germany, that BMW is committed to growing its North American production base,
having announced expansion plans for its Spartanburg plant in March.
In 2010, reports surfaced
that BMW was considering investing USD1 billion in its Mexican supply base,
followed by a series of reports out-of-business publications and from Mexican
government sources.
The reports now surfacing are
the first to suggest that Mini production would be added as well. According to
one forecast, BMW could begin production in 2018, growing to 160,000 units by
2021. ∎
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