Booming engines

Despite the combustion engine hiccup: BMW Steyr sets a record

The number of employees at BMW's largest engine plant has risen to 4,700.(Bild: EPA)

It's coming, it's not coming, it's coming, it's not coming - the planned end for combustion-powered cars, which was sealed for 2035 and has now begun to falter, is turning into a hiccup at the top of the EU. Unimpressed by this, the BMW plant in Steyr (Upper Austria) is playing to its strengths in terms of engine production and raced to a record last year.

From 2035, there should no longer have been any room for diesel or petrol engines in new cars - now the European Union is opening the door again and wants to re-examine the already sealed ban on combustion engines...

More than 1.2 million engines produced
"We are following this debate," says Klaus von Moltke, head of the BMW plant in Steyr. Upper Austria is home to the largest engine plant of the German premium vehicle manufacturer. Production, which of course also felt the effects of the delivery difficulties in the automotive industry, is returning to its former heights here. In the previous year, 1,211,977 engines were produced in Steyr: 915,043 of these were petrol engines, 296,934 diesel engines.

Compared to 2022, there was also a slight increase in the number of diesel engines produced in Steyr in the previous year.(Bild: Krone KREATIV, stock.adobe.com)

With more than 1.2 million engines, Steyr is already close to old records. The production record dates back to 2017, when 1.327 million engines rolled off the production line at the plant in Upper Austria. It was a time when diesel engines still dominated.

As a Group as a whole, we have opted for the strategic direction of technological openness. Of course, you have to recognize where the trend is heading - and not just on the basis of what regulations are defined in the EU, but across the Group and therefore on the global market.

Klaus von Moltke, Geschäftsführer BMW Group Werk Steyr

And today? "We are now talking about three quarters petrol variants and a quarter diesel," says von Moltke, who was able to celebrate a record in 2023. Turnover rose to 4.23 billion euros.

Number of employees rose to 4700
The number of employees at the site climbed from 4500 to 4700 in the previous year - an increase of 200. How did this come about? The ramp-up for the start of production for e-drives is in full swing, which is why new employees are being brought on board, while others from the core crew are being released for the new topic and have to be filled in the traditional engine production.

Big targets for e-models

Last year, the BMW Group delivered 2.555 million BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brand vehicles, 376,183 of which were fully electric models. "Based on our strong, cross-brand product portfolio, we are aiming to sell more than half a million all-electric vehicles by 2024," says Board Member for Sales Jochen Goller.

Work is in full swing on the new production facility for e-drives, in which Steyr will invest around one billion euros by 2030 alone. The new assembly hall, which covers 60,000 square meters, has been completed and almost 300 systems worth 500 million euros are now being installed.

E-drives for "the new class"
Pre-series production is set to begin at the plant in Upper Austria in July, followed by series production in late fall 2025. Annual production of around 300,000 e-drives will be achieved by the end of 2027.

"Then there will be a second expansion phase to reach a total capacity of 600,000 units," says von Moltke. The e-drives from Steyr will initially be supplied to the vehicle plant in Debrecen/Hungary. According to BMW, this is where "the new class" will be created.