BMW Mexico Plant To Build 150,000 Annually

by Cameron Aubernon

July 2nd, 2014 9:00 AM

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bmw mexico plant to build 150 000 annually

Though BMW may announce Thursday where in Mexico it will build its second North American plant, sources close to the matter said the plant will pump 150,000 units annually into auto trains bound for the United States.

Automotive News Europe also reports a Mexican government official claimed the new plant would come with a €1 billion ($1.36 billion USD) investment, and may either be located in the state of Hidalgo just north of Mexico City, or in San Luis Potosi in central Mexico.

The plant — following on the heels of a new Daimler-Nissan small-car factory to be built in Aguacalientes, as well as an Audi factory in San Jose Chiapa — will likely be used to build MINIs and the FWD 1 Series, with localized 3 Series assembly also speculated based on the automaker’s potential need to better compete against the U.S.-assembled Mercedes C-Class on price.

#1Series #3Series #AnnualProduction #Audi #BMW #CapitalInvestments #CurrencyChallenges #Daimler #Mercedes-Benz #Mexico #MINI #Renault-Nissan #UnitedStatesMarket

Cameron Aubernon

Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.

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12 comments

Celebrity208 on Jul 02, 2014

Ugh, those Euro pedestrian safety regulations are destroying the Mini's face.

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- 28-Cars-Later on Jul 02, 2014
  
  Looks like a KIA Soul. Why is this still being made again?
  
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- TMA1 on Jul 02, 2014
  
  I don't think that's a regular Mini, given the 4 doors. Still ugly though.
  
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- Kyree on Jul 02, 2014
  
  Actually this one looks alright, as does the Paceman. But the new third-gen BMW Mini Cooper has too much front overhang and looks kind of clumsy in terms of proportions.
  
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- Darex on Jul 02, 2014
  
  @Kyree Have you even seen one in real-life? Bet you haven't. Stop aping the stupidity of others. It is still WAY shorter than most every other car, and only has a tiny bit of overhang, but no more (and much less) than most every other car, and it actually has a cool profile now in real-life. Lastly, it's a vast improvement over its predecessor by every single measure: equipment, motors, fit-and-finish, quality of materials, etc. Every single review I've read of it has been brilliant, as was my test-drive. It's on a new platform and has a new engine. It has a ton of airbags, and for whatever other reasons, it had to grow a bit. Big deal!
  
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- Ryoku75 on Jul 02, 2014
  
  @darex I've seen one in person and I think these 4-door Mini things are still ugly, and a complete disregard for the purpose of the original mini. And if the Smarts done one thing, its proven that you can still build a small car that meets modern safety requirements.
  
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- Kyree on Jul 02, 2014
  
  @darex Hold on, there. Don't spew your misdirected vitriol at me. I only said that it has too much front overhang and that it's a bit disproportionate now. That's my opinion, and it's has nothing to do with the amount of overhang that other cars have. I never said anything about it being worse than the previous cars...
  
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- Vega on Jul 07, 2014
  
  @darex They are everywhere here in Munich, compared to it's predecessor (which also had a ton of Airbags btw) the new Mini does look like it has a massive overbite. Short frontal and rear overhangs used to be a Mini characteristic, that's why the new design is so painful. Check this picture (http://images.thecarconnection.com/lrg/mini-cooper-generations_100446296_l.jpg), not only does it have a massive overhang, but it looks bloated now. Glad you like it, doesn't make it more good looking though...
  
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Carguy on Jul 02, 2014

Mexican made FWD BMWs are a sure sign of the apocalypse.

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- 28-Cars-Later on Jul 02, 2014
  
  Indeed.
  
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Jim brewer on Jul 02, 2014

Yes. The apocalypse. The mexicanos have to figure out how to make defective ims for years without a fix and how to make power windows guaranteed to be twice as complicated and half as reliable as everyone else's before they are worthy to touch a German car.

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- Carguy on Jul 02, 2014
  
  I don't think they will be designing anything. The plant will probably just assemble the car souring components from existing suppliers and using the design specs from HQ.
  
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