Wed, 24 Oct 2012

Auto maker BMW Group is to open a plant in Brazil in 2014, which will create more than 1,000 direct jobs and provide a major boost to supply chain employers.

As reported previously by Recruiter, the general rule in the UK at least is that every job within an OEM [original equipment manufacturer] creates 7.5 jobs in the supply chain.

The plans are still subject to approval by the Brazilian government, with BMW announcing its bid to make the $200m (£125m) investment to president Dilma Rousseff earlier this week.

BMW’s planned investment is made under recently-adopted ‘Inovar Auto’ (‘Self innovate’) legislation, which provides a new framework for investors.

Ian Robertson, BMW board member responsible for sales and marketing, says: “Brazil is a market with tremendous potential for the future for the BMW Group. For that reason, we are strengthening our long-term commitment to this country.

“This will create the necessary conditions for us to maintain the balance of sales between Europe, Asia and the Americas – and, therefore, for the long-term success of our company. With this move, the BMW Group is applying its strategic principle of ‘production follows the market’, which has already proved successful in markets such as the US, China and India.”

Brazil is one of 14 countries worldwide where BMW produces vehicles, having manufactured motorcycles there since 2010, in addition to a local sales company since 1995.