München/Wackersdorf. BMW Group verplaatst haar Recycling- en Demontagecentrum (RDC) van Unterschleißheim naar BMW Group Fabriek in Wackersdorf, waarbij het centrum aanzienlijk wordt uitgebreid. Op de nieuwe locatie wordt een technologisch geavanceerd competentiecentrum voor circulariteit gebouwd, waarmee de expertise op het gebied van voertuigdemontage en recycling verder wordt ontwikkeld voor de toekomst. De ingebruikname staat gepland voor begin 2029.

“De circulaire economie is een essentieel onderdeel van de bedrijfsstrategie van BMW Group,” zegt Jörg Lederbauer, Vice-President Circular Economy, Spare Parts Supply High Voltage Battery and Electric Powertrain bij BMW Group. “Ons nieuwe competentiecentrum in Wackersdorf wordt een kernonderdeel van onze circulaire waardeketen en zal bijdragen aan een efficiënter gebruik van grondstoffen in de mobiliteit van de toekomst. We willen de beste manier vinden om materialen in de kringloop te houden, zodat grondstoffen hun waarde behouden voor langdurig hergebruik. Dit vermindert ook onze afhankelijkheid van primaire grondstoffen. Tegelijkertijd zal het gebruik van hoogwaardige secundaire materialen de CO₂-voetafdruk van onze voertuigen aanzienlijk blijven verlagen.”

Al meer dan 30 jaar ontwikkelt het huidige RDC in Unterschleißheim, nabij München, methoden om aanzienlijke vooruitgang te boeken in de recycling van onderdelen en het terugwinnen van materialen, en test deze in de praktijk. De inzichten die het RDC opdoet over de recyclebaarheid van componenten en materialen, volgens het Design for Circularity-principe, worden al geïntegreerd in de productontwikkeling van BMW Group. Deze kennis wordt ook ingezet in de samenwerking met PreZero, waarmee BMW Group recent een partnerschap is aangegaan om het strategische en economische potentieel van de circulaire economie bij het recyclen van afgedankte voertuigen te benutten.

Ook het wereldwijde netwerk van de recyclingindustrie profiteert van het werk van het RDC. Ongeveer 3.000 bedrijven in 32 landen maken gebruik van een gedeelde recyclingdatabase met informatie over hoe recyclebare componenten kostenefficiënt kunnen worden gedemonteerd en waardevolle materialen efficiënt kunnen worden teruggewonnen.

Op de toekomstige locatie zullen proces-, materiaal- en technologieontwikkeling nog nauwer worden geïntegreerd met de recyclingactiviteiten van voertuigen. De nieuwe activiteiten van het Competence Centre Circularity omvatten onder meer de recycling van waterstofvoertuigen, automatisering van demontageprocessen en de ontwikkeling van expertise in innovatieve shredder- en sorteertechnologieën.

BMW Group ziet Wackersdorf als de ideale nieuwe locatie voor het Competence Centre Circularity. De BMW Group Fabriek Wackersdorf staat al decennialang bekend om haar flexibiliteit: met cockpitproductie, het Rolls-Royce productiecentrum voor deuren en kleppen, onderdelenlevering voor overzeese fabrieken en het batterijtestcentrum beschikt de locatie over brede expertise en is stevig verankerd binnen het BMW Group-netwerk.

“In de afgelopen jaren heeft het bedrijf een beslissende koers uitgezet voor de toekomst van de locatie Wackersdorf. Gedurende dit proces heeft het hele fabrieksteam steeds weer flexibiliteit getoond. De bouw van het competentiecentrum voor circulariteit hier biedt onze locatie een bredere basis. Zo betreden we een aantrekkelijk, toekomstgericht werkveld,” zegt Stefan Betz, Hoofd van de BMW Group Fabriek Wackersdorf.

“Het bedrijf zet zijn succesvolle transformatie systematisch voort. De vestiging van het nieuwe Competence Centre Circularity hier is een belangrijke strategische beslissing van het bedrijf ten gunste van de locatie Wackersdorf – en vooral van haar medewerkers. Als werknemersvertegenwoordigers hebben wij dit ook ondersteund,” aldus André Mandl, Voorzitter van de Ondernemingsraad voor de BMW Group Fabrieken Regensburg en Wackersdorf.

“In Wackersdorf is BMW al vele decennia een sterke partner aan onze zijde. We zijn verheugd dat de BMW Group met deze stap haar betrokkenheid bij de locatie opnieuw bevestigt. Dit is een duidelijk signaal voor onze regio en voor duurzame toekomsttechnologieën,” zegt Thomas Falter, burgemeester van Wackersdorf.

“Het geavanceerde Competence Centre Circularity zal een belangrijke bijdrage leveren aan de regionale waardecreatie en de verdere ontwikkeling van de circulaire economie,” voegt Thomas Ebeling, Districtsbestuurder van het district Schwandorf, toe. “In combinatie met het technologieoverdrachtscentrum dat door de Hochschule Regensburg en de Hochschule Amberg-Weiden in Wackersdorf wordt gepland, wordt nauwe samenwerking tussen bedrijfsleven en wetenschap op het gebied van de circulaire economie nu ook mogelijk. Zo versterken we de regio.”
Na de locatiekeuze kan nu de gedetailleerde planningsfase voor het Competence Centre Circularity op de nieuwe locatie beginnen. Het bestaande RDC in Unterschleißheim blijft volledig operationeel tot aan de verhuizing. BMW Group zal te zijner tijd verdere informatie geven over de volgende stappen.

+++ From regional development powerhouse to the BMW Group's highest-volume vehicle plant in Europe – Record production in 2025: Plant hits 40-year high with 356,901 vehicles +++

+++ 8.7 million vehicles since start of production in 1986 +++
+++ Plant Director Armin Ebner: “Continuous efforts to increase competitiveness are the key to our success” +++

Regensburg. Plant Regensburg achieved a new production record of 356,901 vehicles in 2025, making it the BMW Group’s highest-volume car plant in Europe. Since the plant opened in 1986, 8.7 million vehicles have rolled off its production line. “With this record production, we not only reached a new all-time high in the plant’s 40-year history but also – as in the previous year – helped the BMW Group’s German plants build more than one million vehicles again in 2025,” says Plant Director Armin Ebner. “For 40 years, the plant has been a central development powerhouse for the eastern Bavarian region.”

Continuous efforts to increase competitiveness as key success factor 

“Continuous and consistent efforts to increase our competitiveness remain the key to our success. Every single day in Regensburg, we demonstrate that competitive production is possible in Germany,” adds Ebner. By implementing efficiency measures within its production system, BMW Group Plant Regensburg has lowered costs by more than a quarter since 2019.

“Digitalisation is an important lever for this,” says Ebner. Examples include the use of artificial intelligence in automated surface processing in the paint shop and for quality controls during vehicle assembly, or a cloud-based traffic control system for supplying parts. Since early 2025, new vehicles have also been able to navigate autonomously, without a driver, from the assembly line to the loading area.

More than 150,000 electrified models in 2025

More than 150,000 of the vehicles manufactured in Regensburg in 2025 were electrified – that is, either fully-electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids. The BMW X1 was the highest-volume model, with over 266,000 vehicles produced, while the BMW X2 accounted for more than 90,000 vehicles.

Over 55,000 vehicles remained in the company’s domestic market of Germany. More than half of the cars produced in Regensburg in 2025 went to customers in other European countries. More than 100,000 vehicles were shipped overseas.

Ebner is optimistic about the plant’s anniversary year: “With our attractive BMW X1 and BMW X2 models, we are producing exactly what our customers want, while continuing to operate three shifts around the clock.” Every 57 seconds, a new vehicle rolls off the assembly line. This currently adds up to more than 1,400 vehicles per workday, which are then delivered to customers around the world. Different types of drive train are flexibly manufactured on a single production line – from models with internal combustion engines to plug-in hybrids and fully-electric vehicles.

BMW Group Plant Regensburg – powering jobs across the region

As part of the settlement agreement with the City of Regensburg in the 1980s, BMW pledged to produce 400 vehicles per day and create 3,500 jobs. With the ramp-up and expansion of the plant in subsequent years, both employee numbers and production capacity increased: In 1991, the plant exceeded the 100,000-vehicle threshold for the first time, with around 128,000 cars manufactured. By 1999, it was building about 750 vehicles daily and more than 200,000 annually. In 2005, annual production surpassed 300,000 vehicles for the first time – with a daily output of around 1,000 units. Having assembled its one-millionth vehicle back in 1995, Plant Regensburg is set to produce its nine-millionth vehicle this year.

Employee numbers have also continued to climb: In 1988, the plant employed around 3,300 people. By 1991, that number had risen to about 7,300. Today, the BMW Group’s core staff at its Regensburg and Wackersdorf locations in eastern Bavaria comprises around 9,000 employees, including approximately 380 apprentices.

This makes the plant a significant economic factor and employer across the region. Ebner: “Our employees’ commitment, their innovation mindset and their forward-looking decisions have shaped BMW Group Plant Regensburg into what it is today: a driving force and economic engine for the entire region.”

40 years of BMW Group Plant Regensburg – overview of milestones:

1983      Decision, contract signing for establishment of Regensburg site

1984      Groundbreaking with Minister-President Franz-Josef Strauß;
              construction of production halls begins

1985     Topping-out ceremony

1986     Start of production for BMW 3 Series (E30); around 1,300 employees

1987      Paint shop commissioned;
first networked computers in assembly usher in the computer age

1988     Around 3,300 employees

1990      Body shop commissioned

1991      Annual production: around 128,000 vehicles, surpassing the 100,000 mark;
around 7,300 employees

1995      Production milestone: 1,000,000 vehicles manufactured in Regensburg

1997      Press shop completed

1999      Annual production exceeds 200,000 vehicles for the first time;
              more than 8,700 employees

2001      Groundbreaking for plant expansion: paint shop and body shop

2005      Annual production exceeds 300,000 vehicles for the first time

2007      Groundbreaking for press shop expansion

2010      Assembly/finish refurbishment

2013      New press system commissioned

2014      Completion of automated small parts warehouse

2015      EFQM Excellence Award; BMW X1 series launch

2017      West expansion of assembly commissioned

2018     Start of BMW X2 series production

2025      Additional body shop commissioned in Neutraubling

2026      Around 9,000 employees, including approx. 380 apprentices

40 years of BMW Group Plant Regensburg – vehicle models produced:

*Updated: Dec. 2025

BMW Group Corporate Communications
Saskia Graser, head of Communications Regensburg and Wackersdorf +49 151 6060 2014, Email: Saskia.Graser@bmw.de

Media website: https://newsroom.bmwgroup.com/global/en

Email: presse@bmw.de

BMW Group Plants Regensburg and Wackersdorf
BMW Group Plant Regensburg has been in operation for more than four decades. After construction of the production halls was completed in 1984, series production of the BMW 3 Series (E30) began in autumn 1986. As part of the settlement agreement with the City of Regensburg, BMW pledged at that time to produce 400 vehicles per day and create 3,500 jobs.

Today, Plant Regensburg is one of more than 30 BMW Group production locations worldwide. More than 1,400 BMW X1 and BMW X2 model vehicles roll off the assembly line each day, destined for customers around the globe. Different types of drive train are flexibly manufactured on a single production line – from models with internal combustion engines to plug-in hybrids and fully-electric vehicles.

Within the framework of the BMW iFACTORY, the BMW Group is also setting standards at its Regensburg location in the fields of digitalisation, circularity and competitiveness – as confirmed by recent awards. For example, in 2025, the plant was named “FACTORY OF THE YEAR” in the category “Excellent Large-Series Assembly”. In addition, the BMW X1 from Regensburg was once again voted Best in Class in “Best Cars 2025”. It is already possible to experience, in virtual form, what the factory will look like in the coming years. Production of the “Neue Klasse” – BMW’s next model generation – is set to ramp up in Regensburg in the second half of this decade.

BMW Group Plant Wackersdorf is home to cockpit production and parts supply for overseas plants, and also serves as the door and flap production centre for Rolls-Royce. With its battery testing centre, the site also makes a significant contribution to electromobility.

The BMW Group's core staff at its Regensburg and Wackersdorf locations in eastern Bavaria comprises around 9,000 employees, including approximately 380 apprentices.

www.bmwgroup-werke.com/regensburg/de.html

+++ Faster, more efficient transition from gas to alternative energy sources possible +++ Pilot project will save around 480 tons of CO2e per year +++

Regensburg. As it transitions from natural gas to renewable energy, the BMW Group is gradually electrifying its paint shops as part of its efforts to decarbonise vehicle production. A recently concluded pilot project at Plant Regensburg demonstrates how this transition can be simplified and accelerated. The key lies in the installation of a thermal oil system. Using thermal oil as a heat transfer medium enables heat generation to be decoupled from the rest of the system’s components. This allows the energy supply to the coating lines to be adapted flexibly at any time.

“One advantage of switching to thermal oil is the flexibility to choose the energy source for heat generation in our paint shops. For example, thermal oil can be heated using electricity, geothermal energy, solar thermal energy – or even a hydrogen-powered heating system. The ability to change fuels quickly at any time makes our paint shops more resilient. If an energy source becomes scarce or unavailable, we can respond at short notice,” explains Samuel Flieger, project manager for technical planning in the Regensburg paint shop.

This means paint shops can already be set up to run on renewable energy – even if gas-free heating is not yet an option. The power grid is not currently equipped at all locations to handle the high energy demands of a fully electrified paint shop, largely due to its extremely energy-intensive drying processes. A thermal oil-based system can also be operated with gas as an interim solution.

Testing successfully concluded in Regensburg

The Regensburg pilot project team took advantage of the production downtime over the New Year period to install the thermal oil technology. Within just a few days, they replaced the gas-powered drying equipment used for one of the three top coat lines with an electrically heated thermal oil system – complete with an innovative electric-powered eRTO exhaust air unit.

The key innovation lies in using the new electric heating unit to transfer heat to the thermal oil, instead of directly heating the air around the car bodies in the drying chamber after paint application. The heated oil circulates in a closed loop and, in a second step, heats the air in the drying chamber via heat exchangers. The circulating thermal oil reaches temperatures of several hundred degrees Celsius. Unlike water, it remains stable even at these high temperatures.

Retrofitting boosts energy efficiency

Wherever waste heat is generated, it is recovered and reused as process heat. This reduces the temperature of the exhaust air released through the hall's roof. As a result of these retrofitting measures, the drying equipment’s total energy consumption has been reduced by approximately 40 percent. Switching to thermal oil heating, combined with the system's improved energy efficiency, will reduce the carbon footprint of BMW Group Plant Regensburg’s paint shop by approximately 480 tons of CO₂e per year.

If you have any questions, please contact:

Christian Dürrschmidt, Communications Regensburg
Cell phone: +49 151 6060 5194,
Email: Christian.Duerrschmidt@bmw.de
 
Saskia Graser, head of Communications Regensburg and Wackersdorf
Cell phone: +49 151 6060 2014,
Email: Saskia.Graser@bmw.de
 
Media website: https://newsroom.bmwgroup.com/global/en
Email: presse@bmw.de

BMW Group Plants Regensburg and Wackersdorf
 
The BMW Group vehicle plant in Regensburg has been in operation since 1986 and is one of more than 30 BMW Group production locations worldwide. Every workday, around 1,400 vehicles of the BMW X1 and BMW X2 models roll off the production line at Plant Regensburg, destined for customers around the globe. Different types of drive trains are flexibly manufactured on a single production line – ranging from vehicles with internal combustion engines to plug-in hybrids and fully-electric models.

BMW Group Plant Regensburg was recognised as “FACTORY OF THE YEAR” 2024 in the category “excellent large-series assembly” of the prestigious industrial competition. As it implements the so-called BMW iFACTORY, the BMW Group is focused on digitalisation of the Regensburg plant site to create a digital and intelligently connected factory. It is already possible to experience in virtual form what the factory will look like a few years from now. Production of models for the NEUE KLASSE, BMW’s next generation of vehicles, will ramp up in Regensburg in the second half of the decade.

The BMW Group plant in Wackersdorf is home to cockpit production and parts supply for overseas plants. With the opening of a new battery testing centre and commissioning of the first phase in autumn 2024, the location also makes a significant contribution to electromobility. An entirely new area of expertise is the door and flap centre for Rolls-Royce.

The BMW Group core staff at the Regensburg and Wackersdorf locations in eastern Bavaria consists of around 9,250 employees, including about 350 apprentices.

www.bmwgroup-werke.com/regensburg/de.html