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Wednesday / 12 February 2025
HomeFeaturesBMW closes big chapter in South Africa

BMW closes big chapter in South Africa

BMW has officially built the last third-generation X3 in South Africa, closing a six-year-long chapter.

Between 2018 and 28 August 2024, the automaker built a staggering 403,114 examples of the SUV at its Rosslyn production plant outside Pretoria, Gauteng, both for the domestic and export markets.

The third-gen X3 was the first SUV produced by BMW in the country, with the factory previously being earmarked for the 3 Series sedan.

However, it’s anything but a sad farewell as BMW is now preparing for the launch of the next-gen X3 that is coming out later this year, which will also be assembled on local soil.

One chapter ends, another begins

In 2015, BMW announced plans for a R6-billion investment in South Africa, which would fund an overhaul of its vehicle production facilities.

At this point, the plant had been producing the 3 Series for more than thirty years, but the manufacturer wanted to shift to the X3 to take advantage of the growing global demand for SUVs.

The carmaker celebrated the creation of its final 3 Series in 2018, which brought the total figure up to an incredible 1,191,604 units.

From this point on, the manufacturer has been solely focused on the X3, and production has been growing at a steady rate thanks to new investments and workplace strategies.

Since 2012, the factory has employed a three-shift cycle which means that the assembly line now operates around the clock with employees coming and going out on an eight-hour timeline.

This allows the site to pump out an average of 76,000 cars per year, 96% of which are destined to be shipped overseas.

BMW marked its 50th anniversary of operations in South Africa with the creation of its 300,000th SUV in March 2023, and in the year and a half since, it has built another 103,000.

The vehicle’s assembly line was shut down on 28 August 2024, and a final Carbon Black X3 was recently shipped off to an awaiting customer in Germany.

“Having worked closely with the third-generation BMW X3, the last of its kind rolling off the production line was a particularly sentimental moment,” said General Manager of Assembly at BMW Group Plant Rosslyn, Tshepo Khoza.

The blue-and-white badged automaker is now getting ready to produce the fourth-gen X3, which will officially go on sale in the fourth quarter of 2024.

In 2023, BMW Group South Africa declared that it would invest R4.2 billion in preparation for the SUV’s construction, as the new models will also be sold as a plug-in hybrid with an electrified powertrain.

It has also roped in Yanfeng Plastic Omnium to set up a local component manufacturing facility to the tune of R1 billion that will provide several parts and materials for the new X3.

Production is scheduled to kick off in October, and the company expects that the new-energy investments for the X3 will help to secure the facility’s future for another 50 years, which employs at least 20,000 people both directly and indirectly at various points in the local supply chain.

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