BMW Munich plant to cease ICE car production in 2027

The BMW plant in Munich will produce only electric cars from 2027, following a €650 million (£560m) investment to expand and upgrade the 102-year-old site.

The German firm has confirmed that it will produce the first of its radical new Neue Klasse EVs – a saloon that will serve as the next-generation 3 Series – in Munich from 2026, reports autocar.co.uk.

Initially, that car will be produced at the Bavarian facility alongside ICE models, but by the following year, the plant will be fully dedicated to EVs – although BMW has yet to specify which models it will produce.

The €650m investment has involved the construction of four new buildings, including a new vehicle assembly line and a new body shop.

To create space, combustion engine manufacturing has been moved to Hams Hall in the UK and Steyr in Austria.

The switch to EV production in 2027 will end 75 years of ICE car production in BMW's hometown.

The factory was opened in 1922 and initially produced motorcycles until car production moved there from Eisenach in 1952. The first car built at Munich was the 501.

At present, the 3 Series (including the Touring estate, M3 and plug-in hybrid 330e and 320e models) is built at the site, along with the 4 Series Gran Coupé (including the electric i4). Munich produces around 1000 cars per day.

BMW will also produce Neue Klasse EVs in Debrecen, Hungary, from 2026, and they will later be built in Shenyang, China, and San Luis Potosí, Mexico.

James is Autocar's acting magazine editor. Having served in that role since June 2023, he is in charge of the day-to-day running of the world's oldest car magazine, and regularly interviews some of the biggest names in the industry to secure news and features.

Before first joining Autocar in 2017, James spent more than a decade in motorsport journalist, working on Autosport, autosport.com, F1 Racing and Motorsport News, covering everything from club rallying to top-level international events. He alsospend 18 months running Move Electric, Haymarket's e-mobility title, where he developed knowledge of the e-bike and e-scooter markets.