BMW Regensburg marks 40 years of manufacturing

In 1986 people were listening to Whitney Houston (“How Will I Know”) and Bon Jovi (“You Give Love a Bad Name”). Top Gun and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off were at theaters.

And in Regensburg, Germany, a BMW plant opened.

Although it is celebrating its 40^th anniversary Plant Regensburg—where the BMW X1 and BMW X2 are produced–, the factory hit record production in 2025, 356,901 vehicles. The factory operates three shifts. There is a new vehicle produced every 57 seconds.

There are ICE, hybrid and EV variants produced in the plant.

While some people might think that a 40-year-old plant in Germany sounds like a place where it would be inefficient to build vehicles, this statement by Plant Director Armin Ebner says what’s really going on at Plant Regensburg:

“Continuous and consistent efforts to increase our competitiveness remain the key to our success.”

Ebner adds: “Every single day in Regensburg, we demonstrate that competitive production is possible in Germany.”