BMW plans ramp-up of production by end of April

BMW Group planned to restart its production at worldwide factories at the end of April, as the COVID-19 pandemic situation improved, the German carmaker announced on Friday.

Initially, BMW's engine plants were scheduled to restart production on April 27 in order to supply the international production network, BMW confirmed to Xinhua.

With the Goodwood plant in Britain and "probably" Spartanburg in the United States, BMW's automotive plants as well as the motorcycle plant in Berlin would follow from May 4 onwards.

The opening schedule was based on market developments and customer demand. BMW noted that there were "some initial positive developments, but in many markets, uncertainties continue to exist."

In Germany, car production in BMW's largest plant Dingolfing would not restart before May 11, according to the company.

"Depending on market developments," BMW's remaining plants in Germany and South Africa as well as the MINI plant in Oxford, Britain would gradually resume production on May 18 "at the earliest."

In China, the plants of BMW's joint venture BBA in Shenyang had already resumed production in mid-February. "We see a positive development there," a BMW spokesperson told Xinhua on Friday.

Germany's largest car manufacturer Volkswagen as well as Daimler had already restarted production this week at selected plants after around five weeks of shutdown due to the coronavirus crisis.