Even after the election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States, the BMW Group is sticking to its plans to build a new factory in Mexico. The threat of high import taxes on cars produced in Mexico for the U.S. market is obviously not sufficient to influence the expansion of the production network, which has already been initiated.
At the San Luis Potosi site, where the first groundbreaking ceremony took place last summer, the BMW G20 3 Series is scheduled to start on the production line from 2019 onwards and the plans are already talking about 150,000 units per year. The investment of approximately one billion U.S. dollars will also create around 1,500 jobs in Mexico.
In the context of the 2017 Detroit Auto Show, BMW board member Dr. Ian Robertson also commented on the company’s plans.
“We need additional capacity, so we have chosen to build a plant in Mexico,” he said. The Spartanburg plant produces up to 450,000 cars per year, he said.
“I don’t think there’s any discussion that BMW is not at home in the United States. Yes we are building a plant in Mexico,” BMW sales and marketing director Ian Robertson told the BBC.
“Yes we built a plant in Brazil last year. Yes we are building plants in other parts of the world as our capacity increases. But that’s part of a normal strategic manufacturing direction.”
“In a global setup, this is normal business,” he said. “At the end of the day, our commitment to the U.S. is strong.”
Last week, Ford scrapped plans to build a new $1.6 billion Mexican plant. CEO Mark Fields said the decision was made “independently” and it had not made a special deal with Trump.
During the electoral campaign, Trump suggested an import tax of 35 percent for companies who manufacture outside of the U.S. and since being elected president has kept up the pressure on firms not to move their production abroad, Fortune reports.
