It’s coming, it’s not coming, it’s coming, it’s not coming – the planned end for combustion engine cars, which was planned for 2035 and is now faltering, is becoming a hassle at the top of the EU. The BMW factory in Steyr (Upper Austria) is not deterred by this and shows its strengths when it comes to engine production and achieved a record last year.
From 2035, new cars should no longer have room for diesel or petrol engines – now the European Union is opening the door again and wants to reexamine the already sealed ban on combustion engines…
More than 1.2 million engines have been produced
“We are following this debate,” says Klaus von Moltke, head of the BMW site in Steyr. The largest engine factory of the German premium vehicle manufacturer is located in Upper Austria. Production, which of course also felt the consequences of supply problems in the automotive industry, is rising again to its previous heights. Last year, 1,211,977 engines were produced in Steyr: 915,043 of them were petrol engines and 296,934 were diesel engines.
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 the time when diesel engines still dominated.
And today? “We are now talking about three quarters of the Otto variants and a quarter of the diesel,” says von Moltke, who was able to celebrate a record in 2024. Turnover increased to 4.23 billion euros.
The number of employees increased to 4,700
The number of employees at the location increased last year from 4,500 to 4,700, an increase of 200. How did this come about? The ramp-up for the start of production for electric drives is in full swing, which is why new employees are brought on board, others from the permanent crew are given free rein for the new subject and they have to be replaced in the traditional sense. production of engines.
Work on the new production of electric drives is in full swing, in which Steyr alone will invest around one billion euros by 2030. The new assembly hall, which covers 60,000 square meters, has been completed and almost 300 systems worth 500 million euros are now being built.
Electric drives for “the new class”
Pre-series production is expected to start in July at the plant in Upper Austria, while real series production will begin in late autumn 2025. By the end of 2027, an annual production of approximately 300,000 electric drives will be achieved.
“Then there will be a second expansion phase to the 600,000 units that we will realize as a total capacity,” says von Moltke. In the first step, Steyr’s electric drives are delivered to the vehicle factory in Debrecen, Hungary. According to BMW, “the new class” will emerge here.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
