Straßkirchen. The preliminary final results of the
Straßkirchen referendum are in: A clear majority of Straßkirchen
residents voted in favour of building the new BMW Group facility. With
over 75 percent of the vote, the council’s “Yes to a BMW assembly
plant for high-voltage batteries” motion was successful. Around 77
percent of the citizens voted.
“The people of Straßkirchen have voted for a joint future with the
BMW Group. We are taking advantage here in Bavaria of the
opportunities offered by the transformation towards electromobility,”
said Milan Nedeljković, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG
responsible for Production. The planned location will secure the
future of the Bavarian vehicle plants in Dingolfing, Regensburg and
Munich, he continued, by supplying them with the high-voltage
batteries required for e-mobility.
“The clear vote in Straßkirchen shows that many residents support
investment in future-oriented technologies and jobs,” said Ilka
Horstmeier, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible
for Human Resources and Real Estate. “At the same time, we are seeing
that, with positive new solutions, a transparent process and open
discussion, reliable decisions can be made for a joint future. All in
all, this, today, sends an important signal for Germany as a whole as
a location for industry.”
The next step on the road to plant construction will already take
place in October. The local land-use planning process provides for a
second round of public consultation on the construction project, where
the BMW Group will also present the many expert opinions it has
commissioned on the impact of site development.
Jobs and apprenticeships geared towards the future
Upon completion of the initial construction phase, the BMW Group
plans to employ around 1,600 people at the future production site.
About 70 percent will come from existing BMW Group locations; these
employees will be able to share their know-how during construction of
the new site. Around 7,500 BMW Group employees already live within a
20-kilometre radius of the planned location. In cooperation with Plant
Dingolfing, the BMW Group will also offer about 50 apprenticeships at
the planned site.
Reliable source of business tax
The BMW Group has already registered permanent establishments in the
municipalities of Straßkirchen and Irlbach and has therefore been
subject to business tax since August of this year – regardless of
construction of the plant. Business tax payments are likely to
continue to rise as a result of the planned site, reaching a high,
single-digit million euro amount per year by the end of the 2020s.
Clear criteria for site selection
In Bavaria alone, the BMW Group evaluated a total of 20 potential
sites according to numerous criteria in conjunction with “Invest in
Bavaria”, the State of Bavaria’s business promotion agency. Among
these candidates, the municipalities of Straßkirchen and Irlbach were
preferred over other available spaces in a multi-stage process. The
decisive criteria included proximity to the BMW Group’s Bavarian car
plants, exclusion of nature reserves, water protection areas and
forests, the size and shape of the plot, combined with a flat
topography, and the fact that several thousand employees already live
in the immediate vicinity of the site. After careful consideration,
the possibility of embedding battery assembly within existing plant
sites was ruled out, due to a lack of sufficient space for the
required scope.
In February 2023, the BMW Group acquired a plot of 105 hectares in
the municipal areas of Straßkirchen and Irlbach. The company also has
purchase rights for approx. 29 additional hectares of adjacent land.
This option area is currently managed by the respective owners.
Site to play key role in securing Bavaria’s future status as a
car-building location
More than 36,000 people in Bavaria are currently employed at the
vehicle plants in Munich, Dingolfing and Regensburg alone. The planned
location will secure the future of these plants, by supplying them
with the decisive component for electromobility: the high-voltage
battery. This will not only safeguard existing jobs at the BMW Group’s
car plants in Bavaria, but also create new jobs in the innovative
field of e-mobility.
The BMW Group’s choice of location will also protect important jobs
outside of the company and create new ones. The company currently
maintains business relationships with around 1,000 suppliers and
service providers from Lower Bavaria, including about 120 from the
Straubing-Bogen area.
Close links between battery factory and vehicle production
In line with its “local for local” principle, the BMW Group is
locating its high-voltage battery assembly facilities worldwide as
close as possible to its vehicle plants: Production facilities for the
sixth-generation BMW Group high-voltage battery are currently being
built in Debrecen (Hungary), Woodruff, near Spartanburg (USA), San
Luis Potosí (Mexico) and Shenyang (China). This approach safeguards
production, even in the event of unforeseen political and economic
developments. It will also strengthen existing locations, protecting
jobs and creating new ones. The short distances involved also reduce
the carbon footprint of vehicle production.
Further information on the planned Irlbach-Straßkirchen
location
Details and the latest information on the new site can be found on
the project website at www.bmwgroup-werke.com/irlbach-strasskirchen.
