BMW Commemorates 20 Years Of Manufacturing At Its Leipzig Facility

Twenty years ago, BMW proudly inaugurated its factory in Leipzig, eastern Germany. Construction commenced in July 2001, and operations officially launched on March 1, 2005.

The first Bavarian model produced in Leipzig was the fifth-generation BMW 3 Series. Managers in characteristic blue coats warmly welcomed the start of production of the popular E90.

Since then, BMW has produced around 3.75 million cars at the Leipzig plant. The first series-production electric BMW, the i3, was also produced there. The subcompact model was produced between 2013 and 2022, and more than 250,000 units rolled off the assembly line.

A year after the i3 went into production, workers in Leipzig began assembling the famous BMW i8, the brand’s first production model with a plug-in hybrid engine. More than 20,500 i8s were produced at this plant between 2014 and 2020.

This factory is also where the brand’s first front-wheel drive model was produced—the 2 Series Active Tourer—introduced in 2014. To produce this model, BMW had to set up a new assembly line built specifically for front-wheel drive models.

BMW currently produces the 1 Series, 2 Series Active Tourer, and 2 Series Gran Coupe. The current Mini Countryman is also produced here.

Over the past twenty years, the Bavarians have invested more than five billion euros in this facility, which has a daily capacity of 1,300 vehicles.

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