+++ From regional development powerhouse to the BMW Group’s highest-volume vehicle plant in Europe – Record production in 2025: Plant hits 40-year high with 356,901 vehicles +++
+++ 8.7 million vehicles since start of production in 1986 ++++++ Plant Director Armin Ebner: “Continuous efforts to increase competitiveness are the key to our success” +++
Regensburg. Plant Regensburg achieved a new production record of 356,901 vehicles in 2025, making it the BMW Group’s highest-volume car plant in Europe. Since the plant opened in 1986, 8.7 million vehicles have rolled off its production line. “With this record production, we not only reached a new all-time high in the plant’s 40-year history but also – as in the previous year – helped the BMW Group’s German plants build more than one million vehicles again in 2025,” says Plant Director Armin Ebner. “For 40 years, the plant has been a central development powerhouse for the eastern Bavarian region.”
Continuous efforts to increase competitiveness as key success factor
“Continuous and consistent efforts to increase our competitiveness remain the key to our success. Every single day in Regensburg, we demonstrate that competitive production is possible in Germany,” adds Ebner. By implementing efficiency measures within its production system, BMW Group Plant Regensburg has lowered costs by more than a quarter since 2019.
“Digitalisation is an important lever for this,” says Ebner. Examples include the use of artificial intelligence in automated surface processing in the paint shop and for quality controls during vehicle assembly, or a cloud-based traffic control system for supplying parts. Since early 2025, new vehicles have also been able to navigate autonomously, without a driver, from the assembly line to the loading area.
More than 150,000 electrified models in 2025
More than 150,000 of the vehicles manufactured in Regensburg in 2025 were electrified – that is, either fully-electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids. The BMW X1 was the highest-volume model, with over 266,000 vehicles produced, while the BMW X2 accounted for more than 90,000 vehicles.
Over 55,000 vehicles remained in the company’s domestic market of Germany. More than half of the cars produced in Regensburg in 2025 went to customers in other European countries. More than 100,000 vehicles were shipped overseas.
Ebner is optimistic about the plant’s anniversary year: “With our attractive BMW X1 and BMW X2 models, we are producing exactly what our customers want, while continuing to operate three shifts around the clock.” Every 57 seconds, a new vehicle rolls off the assembly line. This currently adds up to more than 1,400 vehicles per workday, which are then delivered to customers around the world. Different types of drive train are flexibly manufactured on a single production line – from models with internal combustion engines to plug-in hybrids and fully-electric vehicles.
BMW Group Plant Regensburg – powering jobs across the region
As part of the settlement agreement with the City of Regensburg in the 1980s, BMW pledged to produce 400 vehicles per day and create 3,500 jobs. With the ramp-up and expansion of the plant in subsequent years, both employee numbers and production capacity increased: In 1991, the plant exceeded the 100,000-vehicle threshold for the first time, with around 128,000 cars manufactured. By 1999, it was building about 750 vehicles daily and more than 200,000 annually. In 2005, annual production surpassed 300,000 vehicles for the first time – with a daily output of around 1,000 units. Having assembled its one-millionth vehicle back in 1995, Plant Regensburg is set to produce its nine-millionth vehicle this year.
Employee numbers have also continued to climb: In 1988, the plant employed around 3,300 people. By 1991, that number had risen to about 7,300. Today, the BMW Group’s core staff at its Regensburg and Wackersdorf locations in eastern Bavaria comprises around 9,000 employees, including approximately 380 apprentices.
This makes the plant a significant economic factor and employer across the region. Ebner: “Our employees’ commitment, their innovation mindset and their forward-looking decisions have shaped BMW Group Plant Regensburg into what it is today: a driving force and economic engine for the entire region.”
40 years of BMW Group Plant Regensburg – overview of milestones:
1983 Decision, contract signing for establishment of Regensburg site
1984 Groundbreaking with Minister-President Franz-Josef Strauß; construction of production halls begins
1985 Topping-out ceremony
1986 Start of production for BMW 3 Series (E30); around 1,300 employees
1987 Paint shop commissioned;first networked computers in assembly usher in the computer age
1988 Around 3,300 employees
1990 Body shop commissioned
1991 Annual production: around 128,000 vehicles, surpassing the 100,000 mark;around 7,300 employees
1995 Production milestone: 1,000,000 vehicles manufactured in Regensburg
1997 Press shop completed
1999 Annual production exceeds 200,000 vehicles for the first time; more than 8,700 employees
2001 Groundbreaking for plant expansion: paint shop and body shop
2005 Annual production exceeds 300,000 vehicles for the first time
2007 Groundbreaking for press shop expansion
2010 Assembly/finish refurbishment
2013 New press system commissioned
2014 Completion of automated small parts warehouse
2015 EFQM Excellence Award; BMW X1 series launch
2017 West expansion of assembly commissioned
2018 Start of BMW X2 series production
2025 Additional body shop commissioned in Neutraubling
2026 Around 9,000 employees, including approx. 380 apprentices
40 years of BMW Group Plant Regensburg – vehicle models produced:
Model
Type
Production period:
Number of units
BMW 1 Series 5-Door
E87
2003 – 2011
908,144
BMW 1 Series 5-Door
F20
2010 – 2019
818,530
BMW 1 Series 3-Door
F21
2010 – 2019
128,070
BMW 1 Series 5-Door
F40
2018 – 2023
83,160
Total BMW 1 Series
1,937,904
BMW 3 Series Sedan
E30
1986 – 1993
310,590
BMW 3 Series Sedan
E36
1990 – 1999
1,187,502
BMW 3 Series Sedan
E46
1997 – 2006
1,488,660
BMW 3 Series Sedan
E90
2004 – 2012
243,240
BMW 3 Series Coupé
E92
2005 – 2013
380,698
BMW 3 Series Convertible
E93
2005 – 2013
254,051
BMW 3 Series Sedan
F30
2011 – 2018
278,853
BMW M3
F80
2012 – 2018
34,677
Total BMW 3 Series
4,178,271
BMW Z4
E89
2008 – 2016
116,163
Total BMW Z4
116,163
BMW 2 Series
F46
2014 – 2023
209,883
Total BMW 2 Series
209,883
BMW 4 Series Convertible
F33
2013 – 2020
158,587
BMW 4 Series Convertible
F83
2013 – 2020
19,869
Total BMW 4 Series
178,456
BMW X2
F39
2016 – 2023
307,555
BMW X2
U10
since 2021
184,612
Total BMW X2
492,167
BMW X1
F48
2014 – 2022
851,471
BMW X1
U11
since 2022
770,131
Total BMW X1
1,621,602
Total number of vehicles*
8,734,446
*Updated: Dec. 2025
BMW Group Corporate CommunicationsSaskia Graser, head of Communications Regensburg and Wackersdorf +49 151 6060 2014, Email: Saskia.Graser@bmw.de
Media website: www.press.bmwgroup.com
Email: presse@bmw.de
BMW Group Plants Regensburg and Wackersdorf BMW Group Plant Regensburg has been in operation for more than four decades. After construction of the production halls was completed in 1984, series production of the BMW 3 Series (E30) began in autumn 1986. As part of the settlement agreement with the City of Regensburg, BMW pledged at that time to produce 400 vehicles per day and create 3,500 jobs.
Today, Plant Regensburg is one of more than 30 BMW Group production locations worldwide. More than 1,400 BMW X1 and BMW X2 model vehicles roll off the assembly line each day, destined for customers around the globe. Different types of drive train are flexibly manufactured on a single production line – from models with internal combustion engines to plug-in hybrids and fully-electric vehicles.
Within the framework of the BMW iFACTORY, the BMW Group is also setting standards at its Regensburg location in the fields of digitalisation, circularity and competitiveness – as confirmed by recent awards. For example, in 2025, the plant was named “FACTORY OF THE YEAR” in the category “Excellent Large-Series Assembly”. In addition, the BMW X1 from Regensburg was once again voted Best in Class in “Best Cars 2025”. It is already possible to experience, in virtual form, what the factory will look like in the coming years. Production of the “Neue Klasse” – BMW’s next model generation – is set to ramp up in Regensburg in the second half of this decade.
BMW Group Plant Wackersdorf is home to cockpit production and parts supply for overseas plants, and also serves as the door and flap production centre for Rolls-Royce. With its battery testing centre, the site also makes a significant contribution to electromobility.
The BMW Group’s core staff at its Regensburg and Wackersdorf locations in eastern Bavaria comprises around 9,000 employees, including approximately 380 apprentices.
www.bmwgroup-werke.com/regensburg/de.html