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.
