{"id":85068,"date":"2026-03-20T05:55:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T09:55:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=85068"},"modified":"2026-03-20T05:55:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T09:55:44","slug":"bmw-milan-nedeljkovic-munich-plant-i3-neue-klasse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=85068","title":{"rendered":"Milan Nedeljkovi\u0107 on Munich: New i3 Launch, Neue Klasse Build-Out, and a Warning on EU Trade Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"post-summary-wrap\">\n<h3 class=\"post-summary-title\">Article Summary<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"post-summary-list\">\n<li>The new BMW i3 launches in Munich before expanding to Shenyang and San Luis Potos\u00ed, with volume between plants shifting in real time based on demand.<\/li>\n<li>BMW&#8217;s Neue Klasse investment includes a new dedicated plant in Debrecen for the iX3 and five new high-voltage battery assembly sites worldwide, one of them in Bavaria.<\/li>\n<li>Nedeljkovi\u0107 criticized the EU&#8217;s proposed Industrial Accelerator Act, arguing its focus on &#8220;Made in Europe&#8221; ignores global supply chains and would hurt European competitiveness rather than protect it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<p>The Munich plant doesn\u2019t feel like a facility holding its breath. Lines were running at full capacity when I walked through, and past the production floor you could already see the construction crews working on the Neue Klasse conversion. BMW is producing flat out while tearing up the floor for what comes next. That combination \u2014 full output now, full rebuild for later \u2014 is basically the thesis Milan Nedeljkovi\u0107, current board member for production, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmwblog.com\/2025\/12\/09\/bmw-new-ceo-milan-nedeljkovic-profile\/\">future BMW CEO<\/a>, came to make.<\/p>\n<h3>Production follows the market<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Milan-Nedeljkovic-bmw-00.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-466434\" title=\"Milan Nedeljkovic\u0301-bmw-00\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Milan-Nedeljkovic-bmw-00-830x553.jpg\" alt=\"Milan Nedeljkovic with the BMW Vision Neue Klasse Concept\" width=\"830\" height=\"553\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Milan-Nedeljkovic-bmw-00-830x553.jpg 830w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Milan-Nedeljkovic-bmw-00-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Milan-Nedeljkovic-bmw-00-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Milan-Nedeljkovic-bmw-00-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Milan-Nedeljkovic-bmw-00.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Nedeljkovi\u0107\u2019s starting point was flexibility. BMW can change the sequence and full specification of any individual car up to six days before it goes into production. \u201cThis flexibility is unique in our industry,\u201d he said, \u201cand it forms the basis of our core principle: \u2018Production follows the market.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To showcase the efficiency of his plants, over the past five years, Nedeljkovi\u0107 says BMW has reduced production costs per unit by up to 25%. That\u2019s a significant number, and the argument is that the flexibility is a big reason why \u2014 less waste from locked-in decisions, more ability to respond when demand shifts.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmwblog.com\/2026\/03\/18\/2026-bmw-i3-reveal-electric-sedan\/\">new BMW i3<\/a> is his example. It launches in Munich first, then expands to Shenyang in China and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmwblog.com\/2026\/03\/19\/bmw-i3-sedan-made-in-mexico-2028\/\">San Luis Potos\u00ed in Mexico<\/a>. Volume between the three plants shifts based on where demand actually is, not where it was projected to be months earlier.<\/p>\n<h3>A million cars, and counting<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/BMW-Munich-Plant-prepares-for-i3-Sedan-production-5.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-509281\" title=\"BMW MUNICH PLANT PREPARES FOR I3 SEDAN PRODUCTION 5\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/BMW-Munich-Plant-prepares-for-i3-Sedan-production-5-830x553.jpg\" alt=\"BMW MUNICH PLANT PREPARES FOR I3 SEDAN PRODUCTION 5\" width=\"830\" height=\"553\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/BMW-Munich-Plant-prepares-for-i3-Sedan-production-5-830x553.jpg 830w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/BMW-Munich-Plant-prepares-for-i3-Sedan-production-5-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/BMW-Munich-Plant-prepares-for-i3-Sedan-production-5-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/BMW-Munich-Plant-prepares-for-i3-Sedan-production-5.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>On the question of whether BMW is pulling back from Europe: Nedeljkovi\u0107\u2019s answer was emphatically no. German plants built more than a million cars last year. \u201cEvery fourth car built in Germany has been produced in a BMW plant,\u201d he said. Regensburg and Leipzig are running three shifts, six days a week \u2014 which is close to the ceiling of what\u2019s sustainable.<\/p>\n<p>On top of that, BMW has been investing heavily for the Neue Klasse transition. Every existing plant has been updated. A brand-new dedicated facility is already online in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmwblog.com\/2025\/09\/16\/bmw-plant-debrecen-tour-ix3-neue-klasse\/\">Debrecen, Hungary for the BMW iX3<\/a>. Five new sites are being built specifically for sixth-generation high-voltage battery assembly, scattered globally \u2014 one of them in Bavaria.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are still significantly investing in Europe,\u201d Nedeljkovi\u0107 said. The scale of what\u2019s being built makes that hard to argue with.<\/p>\n<h3>The part about Brussels<\/h3>\n<p>The most direct stretch of his remarks was on trade policy. Nedeljkovi\u0107 was critical of the EU\u2019s proposed Industrial Accelerator Act, and didn\u2019t dress it up much.<\/p>\n<p>His problem with it: the Act focuses on \u201cMade in Europe\u201d while ignoring the global supply chains that European companies actually run. \u201cThis will lead to less innovation, lower growth \u2014 and finally to reduced prosperity in Europe,\u201d he said. The logic being that if you constrain the supply chain in the name of local production, you end up with slower development and less competitive products, not a stronger industrial base.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEurope needs to act more future-oriented by strengthening free trade and creating a positive business environment,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are convinced: Europe needs a strong industrial footprint.\u201d His point being that those two things \u2014 free trade and a strong industrial base \u2014 aren\u2019t in tension. The Industrial Accelerator Act, in BMW\u2019s view, treats them as if they are.<\/p>\n<h3>\u201cPerforming while transforming\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>He closed with Munich itself. The plant is \u201cproducing at full speed, while reinventing itself for the Neue Klasse and for the future,\u201d he said. It\u2019s a line that lands a bit differently when you\u2019ve just walked the floor and seen both things happening at once. But unfortunately, we can\u2019t share more for another few weeks when we will take you behind the scenes with an exclusive video.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article Summary The new BMW i3 launches in Munich before expanding to Shenyang and San Luis Potos\u00ed, with volume between plants shifting in real time based on demand. BMW&#8217;s Neue Klasse investment includes a new dedicated plant in Debrecen for the iX3 and five new high-voltage battery assembly sites worldwide, one of them in Bavaria. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":85069,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=85068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/85069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=85068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=85068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}