BMW Hams Hall Engine Plant officially opened

Hams Hall. Today (8 February 2001), BMW's new UK engine production plant
at Hams Hall, near Birmingham, was formally opened at a ceremony which
brought good news for the British car industry. BMW Group has invested
British Pounds 400 million in the factory, which will build a new
generation of four-cylinder petrol engines for delivery to its car
assembly plants in Germany, South Africa and the USA. The Chairman of
the Board of Management of BMW AG, Professor Joachim Milberg, used the
occasion to draw attention to the importance of the UK market to the
BMW Group and emphasised his company's long-term commitment to Britain
as a major investor, employer and manufacturer. "It is our
policy", Milberg said, "to invest significantly in our major
markets around the world, according to the principle 'production
follows the markets'." He drew attention also to the recently
concluded agreements at the Hams Hall and Oxford plants regarding new
pay and working conditions: "We are starting a new chapter of
industrial relations for the company in Britain. The flexibility and
efficiencies we got with these agreements are an important prerequisite
to be a globally competitive manufacturer here in Britain. They also
give our associates excellent rewards for their performance."
Last year, BMW Group sales in the UK totalled 68,000 cars, confirming
its position as the company's third largest market after Germany and
the USA. Milberg announced that "the BMW Group has designated an
investment of one billion pounds to its present and future
manufacturing facilities in Britain until the end of the year
2002". The investment applies to three major projects: The new
engine plant at Hams Hall, the modernisation of the facilities in
Oxford for production of the new MINI and a new head office and
manufacturing plant in England where, from 2003, a new generation of
Rolls-Royce cars will be built. The BMW Chairman used the opening of
the Hams Hall plant to outline the company's future strategy and
explained its decision to concentrate exclusively on the premium
sectors of the market, where BMW products will have design, technology
and performance attributes which will set them apart from the rest.
"The BMW Group," he went on, "is not a volume producer,
with all the uncertainties and volume-driven challenges which currently
face mass manufacturers. We are much more interested in profitable
growth - with the emphasis on 'profitable' and 'growth' in that
order." Following BMW's record performance in the year 2000, he
forecast a successful future ahead and promised a continuation of the
high levels of investment which would be financed, as in the past, from
the company's positive cash flow. Referring to the Hams Hall factory,
which has just begun to produce a new generation of four-cylinder
petrol engines employing revolutionary VALVETRONIC technology, Milberg
pointed out the particular significance of the facility for a company
whose engines, perhaps more than those of any other manufacturer, are
at the very heart of its products: "It is very much a vote of
confidence in our British colleagues to supply these outstanding
engines to their BMW colleagues in car plants around the world."
The Hams Hall plant will be the BMW Group's "centre of
competence" and sole supplier of a new generation of four-cylinder
petrol engines between 1.6 and 2.0 litres to its vehicle assembly
factories in Germany (Munich, Regensburg and Dingolfing), South Africa
(Rosslyn) and the USA (Spartanburg). At full capacity, the plant will
be capable of producing over 400,000 engines per year and will employ
around 1500 associates. At present, 450 people already work at the
factory. This number will rise to approximately 650 by the end of the
year. There is certainly no shortage of people eager to work for BMW at
the most modern engine plant in the world. Within a week of job
advertisements being placed in regional newspapers in the West Midlands
at the end of last year, almost 9,000 people expressed their interest
in the jobs on offer. As part of the rigorous recruitment procedure,
applicants are currently being invited to special weekend "open
days" before being formally interviewed. In view of the large
number of applications, this is a procedure which will take several
months to complete. Hams Hall's Plant Director, Colin Mitchell, has
been delighted at the extremely positive public response to the job
opportunities being offered by BMW: "The quantity of applications
we have received, and, more importantly, the quality of the applicants
we have met, gives us the confidence to say that we will match the very
high standards which have been set by BMW's other production
plants." Guest of honour at the formal opening of the Hams Hall
plant was the Rt. Hon. Andrew Smith MP, Chief Secretary to the
Treasury. The government minister was introduced by BMW's Chairman as
the constituency Member of Parliament for the company's Oxford factory
and praised by him as someone who had "worked long and hard to
create a positive environment for both BMW and his constituents."