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The BMW Group manufacturing facility plant in Steyr (“BMW Gruppe Werk Steyr”) is celebrating its 35th anniversary of production operations. During this period, more than EUR 6 billion has been invested, or about EUR 460,000 per day. In this way, the BMW Group has made a major contribution towards the sustainable success and above all growth of the business location. “We are committed to Austria and will continue to make investments, also over the next 35 years – in our development center, in modernizing our production facilities and in digital innovations. Our declared objective is to become the world’s leading production system in the automotive sector”, states Gerhard Wölfel, who serves as the managing director of the BMW Group’s largest engine plant worldwide.
In 2016, the factory had an output of close to 1.3 million engines, achieving a new production record encompassing 860,000 diesel motors and 390,000 gasoline engines in several hundred different varieties. The next generation of engines is waiting in the wings. The production line is currently being converted to the mechanical production and engine assembly requirements. The upgrading program at a cost of EUR 180 million is designed to adjust the production lines for the new engines and optimize production flexibility.
A particular highlight is the additional investment of EUR 63 million in a crankshaft production line. The recent decision made by the Group confirms plans to modify the existing line by 2021, including instalment of 28 new machines. The oldest machine in the plant, a nitriding furnace, which has been deployed for the hardening process since production began back in 1982, will be displayed in a museum. In the future, the plant will resort to induction hardening.
69% of the engines manufactured in the Steyr plant are diesel engines. EUR 100 million is being invested at present in expanding the Diesel Engine Development Center in order to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of these engines in the future and make them more efficient. More specifically, the investments involve 30 new test stands, of which 15 are already in use. The project includes an altitude test facility and a climate test bench enabling engine tests from sea level to an altitude of 5,000 meters and at temperatures ranging from minus 40 °C to plus 50 °C.
