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BMW Group South Africa Rosslyn plant investment programme, South Africa

30th June 2017

By: Sheila Barradas

Creamer Media Research Coordinator & Senior Deputy Editor

     

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Name of the Project
BMW Group South Africa (BMW SA) Rosslyn plant investment programme.

Location
Rosslyn, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa.

Client
BMW Group South Africa.

Project Description
BMW Group South Africa is investing R6-billion at its Rosslyn plant in Pretoria, Gauteng, to enable the plant to produce the next-generation BMW X3, which will be sold locally and exported to various countries.

The investment to build a completely new model at the Rosslyn plant requires the biggest structural change in the 44-year history of the plant.

Land adjacent to the plant has been acquired and construction of a new body shop was completed at the end of 2016.

The roof of the assembly facility has been lifted 14 m to accommodate the production of the BMW X3, which is larger and longer than the BMW 3 Series.

The new 26 000 m2 body shop, with its improved ventilation and use of natural light, is twice the size of the old body shop.
Other structural changes include the revamp of the paint shop, a new combined body stacker and the construction of a new technical training centre and data centre.

In addition, the investment will include installing new, state-of-the-art technologies on the various production lines, a 50% increase in bodyshop robotics, training of employees and supplier development.

Production of the next-generation BMW X3 will replace the BMW 3 Series sedan, which will be allocated to other plants in the global BMW production network.

The BMW Spartanburg plant, in the US state of South Carolina, will continue to produce the next-generation BMW X3, alongside its sister plant at BMW Rosslyn.

Jobs To Be Created
The investment will allow for employment numbers to remain stable.

In 2016, as part of a planned transition process preparing the BMW Rosslyn plant for production of the next generation BMW X3, the state of several employees who were previously on fixed-term employment contracts were converted to permanent employees. This provides the Rosslyn plant with a more sustainable model for the future, with added flexibility to adapt to increases or decreases in production.  This approach is also positive for the plant’s competitiveness.

Value
More than R3-billion will be invested in new state-of-the-art facilities and operations at the plant.

An additional R3-billion will be for suppliers, launch costs and the training of associates.

Duration
The investment was announced in November 2015 and culminates with the start of production in the first half of 2018.

Latest Developments
BMW has lifted the veil on its 2018 X3 sports-utility vehicle at its factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in the US, which BMW’s Rosslyn plant is also gearing up to produce for the local and export markets.

The new BMW X3 will be in launched in the US in the third quarter of this year and comes with a host of new features, such as three-zone automatic climate control, active seat ventilation, 40:20:40 split/folding rear seats and a panoramic glass roof.

Another new equipment item is the optional BMW display key, which not only locks and unlocks the BMW X3 by radio remote control, but also shows a variety of status information on the car and serves as the control unit for the optional auxiliary heating, for example. It also now features BMW Connected.

Working on the basis of a flexible platform, the Open Mobility Cloud, this new integrated digital concept for enhanced personal mobility uses various touch points (such as smartphones and smartwatches) to integrate the car into the user’s digital life.

This means, for example, that it can transfer mobility-related information, such as addresses from calendar entries, from a smartphone into the car, enter them automatically as destinations into the navigation system and calculate the optimum departure time for the journey.

Gesture control in the X3 allows for various navigation and infotainment system functions to be operated intuitively using finger and hand gestures.

The optional Voice Assistant enables the driver to use everyday language to have their requests turned into the appropriate actions, instead of having to use set spoken commands.

It is not yet clear if all of these innovations will be available in South African X3 models.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Not stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Yes.

Contact Details for Project Information
BMW SA GM group communications, Diederik Reitsma, tel +27 12 522 2525 or email diederik.reitsma@bmw.co.za.
Stefanutti Stocks, tel +27 11 571 4300, fax +27 11 571 4370 or email holdings@stefstocks.com.
 

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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