The German carmaker, BMW plans to resume building cars in Germany on May 11, after a two-month standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Its large SUV factory in the US city of Spartanburg and its motorcycle plant in the German capital Berlin will gradually reopen starting on May 4, the company announced on Friday.
The company said car production will restart a week later in the German town of Dingolfing – where BMW’s largest European plant is located – and in Mexico.
The main BMW factory in Munich, plants in Leipzig, Regensburg and South Africa’s Rosslyn, and the Mini factory in Oxford are due to follow suit on May 18 at the earliest, “depending on market developments,” according to the company.
“Everything depends on the markets and customer demand,” a spokesman said.
He pointed to initial positive signs particularly in China and South Korea, but the situation remains uncertain in other markets.
In the Dingolfing plant, where BMW builds luxury vehicles that are in high demand in Asia, production is expected initially to restart with just one shift. Social distancing rules will be in place, employees will get face masks and expanded break areas are foreseen, according to the company.
The BMW engine factories are due to restart working already on Monday to supply the car plants.
BMW had shut down its car factories in March due to the closure of car dealerships and collapse in demand that came with the coronavirus pandemic.
The assembly lines at the largest BMW site in the Chinese city of Shenyang have been rolling again since mid-February.
