BMW gears up for growth with new engine plant in Shenyang

Olaf Kastner (left), president and CEO of BMW Group Region China, Oliver Zipse (center), a member of the management board of the BMW Group, and Anton Heiss, president and CEO of BMW Brilliance, cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony for the new engine plant of BMW Brilliance in Shenyang, Liaoning province. [Photo/China Daily]

BMW Brilliance Automotive entered a new phase of local production on Friday as its new engine plant in Shenyang started production of the automaker's latest turbocharged engines.

With the bringing together of core technologies, the BMW Group has for the first time integrated the complete engine production process from casting and machining, to assembling and testing at one plant. It is one of the most advanced and sustainable engine plants worldwide.

Oliver Zipse, a member of the management board of the BMW Group, said in an interview: "It's part of our localization strategy. The two plants in Shenyang, Tiexi and Dadong, are big enough that a complete engine factory is worthwhile."

The BMW Brilliance Automotive engine plant in Shenyang, Liaoning province, serves as the BMW Group's first competence center outside of Europe, and its fourth after those in Germany, Austria, and United Kingdom.

With it, BMW has been realizing the full localization in China of the core engine components, such as cylinder head, crankcase, crankshaft, connecting rod, cam shaft, to assemble the latest generation of BMW 3- and 4-cylinder engines.

"We have a network of engine plants in Germany. Here the new engine plant has all the knowledge of that network realized with the latest data. We have taken the next step here in China with the latest technology," Zipse said.

Olaf Kastner, president and CEO of BMW Group Region China, said: "With the strategy of 'In China, with China and for China,' the new engine plant has created about 2,000 high quality positions in Shenyang, and it will also help the city's economic development."

The new staff members have expanded the BMW team in China to 17,000, with 16,000 in Shenyang.

"Manufacturing its most advanced engines in China with its latest core technologies shows BMW's confidence in the Chinese market and its commitment to its localization strategy," said Anton Heiss, president and CEO of BMW Brilliance, at the opening ceremony for the engine plant.