Harald Kruger (L) and Enrique Nieto, president (R)Mexico – Development of the carmaker’s new production site will cost around $1 billion and take until 2019. The plant will have an annual capacity of 150,000 units and a workforce of 1,500 at production launch.

“The Americas are among the most important growth markets for the BMW Group,” commented Harald Krüger, member of the BMW board of management with responsibility for Production. “We are continuing our strategy of ‘production follows the market’.”

BMW will invest a total of $2.2 billion in the NAFTA region up to 2019 and is currently building a plant in Santa Catarina in Brazil, with production due to start later this year. The OEM’s Spartanburg facility in the US is receiving a $1 billion investment to boost its annual capacity to 450,000 by the end of 2016. SGL Automotive Carbon Fibres (SGL ACF) will also receive $200m to triple its production at Moses Lake.

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