The latest milestone vehicle was duly dispatched to its new owner – a customer in Bavaria.
Lined up end to end, the 3,000,000 vehicles made by Plant Leipzig would stretch about 13,000km – roughly the flight distance from Leipzig to Australia’s northernmost city, Darwin.
The first BMW “made in Leipzig” rolled off the production line in March 2005, a 320i.
Six years later the 1,000,000th car was made, in December 2011, an Alpine White 116d that was presented to the non-profit organisation Joblinge. The 2,000,000th car came even faster, in October 2016, a BMW i3 in Protonic Blue for a customer in the United States.
The Leipzig plant was the first BMW plant to kick off production of electrified vehicles.
"When we start making the successor to the current MINI Countryman, Leipzig will be the first BMW facility to make both BMWs and MINIs,” said BMW AG Board Member for Production, Milan Nedeljkovic. The next Countryman would be made in Leipzig from 2023.
Along with the i3, Plant Leipzig currently makes the 1 Series, 2 Series and its most powerful model, the M2 Competition. Output totals more than 1,000 vehicles a day and reached 200,000 units last year.
Since going on stream in 2005, production capacity at Plant Leipzig has gradually increased.
The facility is currently capable of delivering up to 350,000 vehicles a year, compared with some 54,000 in the first year of operations.
It now has its sights set on the next million and is also undertaking the next steps towards greater sustainability and becoming a “green plant”.
Plant Leipzig has always been known in the BMW plant network for its sparing and efficient use of energy, with regenerative sources used wherever possible.
Since 2013, production of the i3 has been powered by green energy from four wind turbines on the plant premises, meaning the BMW Group’s first fully electric model has been made with locally sourced green energy since day one.
But now the plant is aiming even higher: “By 2030 we intend to reduce CO2 emissions from production by 80 percent compared with 2006. Our vision is to fully decarbonise production by replacing fossil fuels with hydrogen,” said plant director Hans-Peter Kemser.
