BMW Group is a significant player in the UK economy and automotive industry and has invested substantially in the West Midlands.
The BMW factory at Hams Hall, North Warwickshire plays an important role within BMW Group's global production network. The plant is the centre of competence and sole producer of all four-cylinder petrol engines within the Group.
The choice of the West Midlands for the company's first non-German or Austrian engine plant was a strategic one. Britain is the third largest market in the world for BMW Group products and the company invests on a long-term strategic basis, where production follows the major markets.
Since the plant first opened in 2001, engines built at Hams Hall have been powering vehicles across the BMW range. Currently, the plant supplies four car plants in Germany and plants in South Africa and Austria, building engines for vehicles within the BMW 1, 3 and 5 Series and X3 ranges.
In 2006, the plant extended its product line-up and increased its customer base with the introduction of a second family of award-winning petrol engines for the Oxford-built MINI.
All engines are built to order and delivered in the correct sequence to correspond with ordered cars on the assembly lines - a process that demands agility, speed and accuracy.
Success at the state-of-the=art manufactturing facility has been driven, to a large extent, by the skilled, flexible workforce drawn from across the West Midlands. In a region famous for engineering expertise and innovation, BMW employees are quick to embrace new manufacturing processes and leading edge technology, helped along by extensive training and personal development programmes.
Since the start of production, a growing number of drivers all around the world will know how it feels to be powered by West Midlands' skill, expertise and dedication as production at the factory reached new record levels in 2008.
Investment in the particularly fuel-efficient engines being built at Hams Hall for both MINI and BMW along with continuing investment in the development of highly efficient production facilities provides a strong basis for continued success, enabling the Hams Hall plant to make a valued contribution to the BMW Group in the UK and worldwide.
For more information about BMW Plant Hams Hall, contact kate Bird on 01675 460742.