500 million of the 800 million euros will be devoted to the construction of a high-voltage battery factory.
German automaker BMW has announced an investment of 800 million euros to expand its production of electric cars at its plant in San Luis Potosi, northern Mexico. “With this new investment, our San Luis Potosi plant will play a central role in the BMW Group’s transition to electromobility,” said Harald Gottsche, president of BMW’s San Luis Potosi plant.
In a press release, BMW’s production manager, Milan Nedeljkovic, said that this envelope will allow the creation of “a thousand jobs”. In addition, 500 million of the 800 million euros announced will be devoted to the construction of a high-voltage battery factory in Mexico, covering an area of 85,000 square meters.
This investment responds to the expansion of the German car manufacturer’s production plans for its new generation of electric cars, BMW has justified. At its San Luis Potosi plant, which opened in 2019, 3,000 employees currently produce BMW 3 Series, 2 Series Coupe and M2 models, some of which are for export.
Lithium mining
For its part, the Mexican government continues to promote the implementation of Plan Sonora in the north of the country, which will allow the exploitation of lithium, necessary for the production of batteries for electric cars and solar energy.
Mexico, whose authorities are seeking to attract companies from the automotive industry, is the world’s seventh largest producer of vehicles and already hosts several car manufacturers such as Audi, Ford, General Motors and Volkswagen.
Several companies, including General Motors, have started to change their activities and are now turning to the production of electric vehicles, mainly for export.
