The BMW 3-Series Is Made In Mexico NOT Munich. Is It DEAD To You Now?

What's wrong with a BMW that runs on hot tamales and spicy sauce?

I'm glad I don't own a car company and have to anticipate if new tariffs will be implemented forcing me to move production to a different continent at the drop of a hat.

Yes, it's important to uphold immoral business practices that rape American workers. You're so insightful.

You missed the point. Try harder.

No Matt - Companies are NOT in business for their workers- they are in business specifically to make money for their ownership. I it NOT immoral to move production to a place where it will create higher profits - it is actually logical to do so. If workers want to move to that new location and accept the pay scale there - I am sure the companies will take them. And if they are not - that is their decision.


The fact is - few people know where the parts of their car are being built - much less where the final assembly of the vehicle will happen - Car today a GLOBAL products - even if assembled in the US. In India and China you will find cars being completely produced locally - due to their political system and or level. Even cars produced in Russia are likely to have parts from all over Europe.

The fact is - Manufacturers CAN design cars so that the quality of production is less dependent on the workers in a particular plant. And they have developed lots of new Platforms - that cover most of the cars produced. THe more things in common -the more likely te quality will be similar.

Lastly - even cars Assembled in Germany - are made from a mix of international parts. BMW Never made its own Automatic Transmissions.

Hey TommyDementia: "...Companies are NOT in business for their workers..." I though you fascist-socialist assbags were all about the workers "Si se puede" and all that jazz.

They are all crap anyway.

This made me laugh: "Volkswagens that were built in Germany are markedly different than those built in Mexico" because it's such an ironic statement. Mexican VWs tend to be more reliable than German made models.

The sneering in the lead up to the link demeans Mexicans and their work. We get numerous cars from Mexico and Mexican production has NOT let their respective brands down.

If Mexican BMWs should be found to be substandard it will be 100% because BMW failed in its implementation.

I guess it comes down to what makes a car? How far up to you have to go in the luxury chain before where it is made does matter? Does it have to be made and blessed by elves in the home country plant for it really to be a "brand X" product? Is it ok for mainstream cars but not ok for others? Toyota HAD to move Corolla to Mexico to make some margin on the car. No real need for BMW to make 3-Series cars their when they could be made in the USA. But if the trade agreement allows it and BMW can profit from it, why not.

German VW reliability data shows them to be less reliable than Mexican VWs. American VWs have better reliability than German ones. The Germans make crappy VWs.

#Racist?

Not at all.

It'd be silly to ignore that buyers DO care where their vehicles are built.

Lots of cars are manufactured in Mexico, to a generally high standard of quality and BMW is certainly not the first one to do so. The tone of this comes off as dismissive. At this point, there is probably more car production in Mexico than in Canada.

The tone of the post would be more appropriate if BMW was moving 3-series production to someplace like Cambodia or Bangladesh where high quality car-production is not the norm. This is a low-risk move for BMW.

My Porsche Cayenne was built in Bratislava and its very well built but I don't remember seeing dismissive posts about production in Bratislava.

Your site, so write what you want.

@AgentOOR - You are correct even if everyone can't see it. And to my point what car would you buy from Mexico or Vietnam etc? Would it be ok for BMW to make 5-Series there? 8 Series? Is it still a Ferrari if it is made in China? Or Canada for that matter? Think what you like but at some point it matters a whole lot to a buyer where their car came from. That point may not make sense re quality scores, but it will still matter to that buyer.

@mre30 - To add ALL Cayenne's are now exclusively built in the VW/Porsche plant in Slovakia.

As well 17M cars were made within NAFTA in 2018. 11M in the USA, 4M in Mexico and 2M in Canada. I expect that Mexican number will continue to climb and reach the US number which may fall in the future. A future role for Canada may lie in luxury car/suv production. The Lexus RX line is made here since 2003 and in 2019 Toyota stated the RXL model as well as the NX model will be added. Canada builds excellent cars and hopefully this investment will encourage other luxury makers to follow.

This post is very demeaning to Mexican nationals and therefore is patently racist.

BMW buyers don't give a crap where their cars are made.

Vast majority don't know or care. Quality will improve after a few years...expect some problems with the initial vehicles.

dickhead bus riders commenting on cars they will never drive. ok.

LOL

I like your grit.

One of the cars in the household is a VW Golf R. Yes it is built in Germany and the materials used are more premium than a Jetta but not because the Jetta is built in Mexico but because the Jetta for the North American market (as an example) is built more to a price point.

Gonna be a b*tch to chuck them over that damn wall

Ha, funnneee!!! Need a cartoon for that visual.

Newest state of the art plant with up-to-date facilities, paint shop, tooling and oversight from the same BMW team. If anything, quality will increase IF BMW wants to have Lexus-like quality control.

Since when did any BMW buyers even know where their cars were made? No one has a clue whether their BMW was built in South Carolina, Germany or Mexico. They see the BMW badge and name and assume it's German.

It's purely cache that suffers if the buyer cares where the production happens for the product. I worked in a factory in Regensburg Germany building 3 series years ago and can tell you the production line is very automated and every newton meter of torque on each screw and bolt was measured by a computer, seems they can build the car the same way no matter the location.