German luxury carmaker BMW AG expects to triple its purchases of automotive parts and components in Mexico by the end of 2012, according to global purchasing director Herbert Diess.
“In 2009, BMW promoted the export of parts and components from Mexico to different plants [in the U.S. and Europe] worth a total of $615 million,” Diess said at a news conference in Mexico this month.
“By 2012 we expect exports [from Mexico] to reach 2 billion euros ($2.5 billion).”
About 20 percent of the money spent in Mexico is for plastic items, such as dashboards, door panels and consoles, a BMW spokeswoman said in a May 12 interview.
BMW will start assembling the new BMW X3 sport utility vehicle in Spartanburg, S.C., in September and 200 of its components — 25 percent of the vehicle's content — will come from Mexico, Diess added.
In October 2008, BMW opened a regional purchasing office in Mexico City covering the whole of the Americas.
According to the BMW spokeswoman, BMW has identified, evaluated and graded 250 suppliers throughout the Americas.
About 80 percent of the evaluations have been carried out on suppliers in Mexico, primarily in the states of Aguascalientes, Baja California Norte, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Nuevo León, Puebla, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Sonora and Tamaulipas.
The office coordinates the purchase of 320 components produced in Mexico and exports them to Spartanburg and BMW facilities in Europe, BMW said.
BMW brands include BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce automobiles and BMW motorcycles. It has 24 production facilities in 13 countries and in 2009 sold 1.29 million automobiles and 87,000 motorbikes.
“Because of its geographical location and [several dozen] free-trade agreements, Mexico has become one of the most interesting automotive markets in the Americas,” Diess said.
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