The current socio-political climate in South Africa continues to hurt outside investment, with protests going well beyond the two month mark.

Among the companies that are feeling the brunt of these protests we state Toyota, Volkswagen and the Bavarian car maker, BMW.

BMW has already kept the production offline for three weeks in August and September, and with the labor syndicates not backing up, it seems that October will see more of the same. “Any plans to expand our plant or our capacity further have been put indefinitely on hold” said Guy Kilfoil, BMW’s spokesman, in a recent interview.

“From our perspective we think the country is at a fairly major socio-political crossroads. South Africa is becoming less globally competitive in terms of wages, energy costs, water costs. All of those things are making South Africa a less attractive destination for foreign investment”.

So far, South Africa has seen a 75 percent drop in exports, and the economical damage will most likely pile on. So far it is uncertain if BMW will turn its attention back to South Africa once this turmoil is over, or if the manufacturer will move on to another location.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post BMW stopped investing in South Africa appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

When you buy a BMW, the fact that it is German engineered can be considered a boon.

But just because it’s a German car, it doesn’t mean it was built in Germany. In fact, a giant like BMW would not be able to handle the volume of work and the logistics if they were to operate only in the home country.

In order to bring the driving pleasure worldwide, the car maker relies on various plants all over the world, in South Africa, United States, India, China, Japan, Canada and Egypt. But recently, one of the plants seems to have encountered some problems.

At the Rosslyn plant, near Praetoria, South Africa, workers have gone on strike, slowing production and drawing in losses. So far, the numbers rise to 1.270 3 Series lost, an aftermath of a 2.150 workers strike. The reason for the strike seems to be the difference in pay between the shifts. To be more exact, any worker that does overtime until midnight received 17 percent more money while anyone burning the night oil past 12 gets 20 percent.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post BMW plant in South Africa suffers from employee strike appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

Looks like the scare that BMW involuntarily gave us because of the worker’s strike in South Africa is finally over since the car makers have reached an agreement with the Numsa union, as to pay a 10 percent rise to the worker’s salaries.

More than one week ago it has been reported that a strike had the result of closing the assembly lines of several car manufacturers including BMW, General Motors Company, Daimler, Nissan Motor Company, Volkswagen, Toyota Motor Company and Ford Motor Company,. The reasons were financial, as the workers demanded increased wages and benefits and their union couldn’t find common ground with the car manufacturers during the negotiations which led to up to 2,100 cars to be lost because of the lack of production.

Now that all has ended and the dust has settled, it has come up that about 17,000 units have been lost because of the strike, but we will see if this will have any effect on the rest of the world since more than half of the annual 420,000 units produced in South Africa are destined for export.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post The South African Strike Has Passed appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

BMW always has new ideas and more and more reasons to unveil limited or special editions of it’s best selling models. Now, it is the Republic of South Africa’s turn to enjoy the spotlight (again, because last month the 3 Series Dynamic Edition was launched), as it will be the home of the latest BMW M3 Frozen Edition. The country was chosen because BMW will have clocked 25 years of presence there and that needs to be celebrated accordingly.

Under the bonnet, the BMW M3 Frozen Edition will be sporting 442 hp and 420 Nm of torque because of the different modifications that were done, like a new exhaust pipe, a new management system for the engine or AC Schnitzer components. For the gearbox, the BMW M3 Dual Clutch will be present.

As for the aesthetics, the BMW M3 Frozen Edition will be available in two Frozen colours: Frozen Grey and Frozen Black, each version having 19-inch wheels, red calipers for the brakes and black leather interior.

Having a price tag of almost R1.2 million, only 25 units of the BMW M3 Frozen Edition will be available, 8 of which will be produced this year and the rest in 2011.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post 25 Years of BMW Presence in South Africa: the M3 Frozen Edition appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

People living in the Republic of South Africa will be getting a treat from BMW because the bavarian manufacturer is going to produce a limited batch of the 3 Series sedan which has been labeled Dynamic Edition.

As you will soon see, BMW decided on the magical number 3, since the Dynamic Edition is available only for the BMW 320i, 335i and the 320d. This limited edition mixes elements found on the M Sport Model and performance carbon fibre trademarked by BMW, like the mirrors and spoilers. The interior has also been changed, having for example Royal Blue floor mats and alcantara covering made specifically for the Dynamic Edition. ConnectedDrive will take care of your entertainment needs as well as your mobile phone so that you can keep your eyes on the road for safety.

There are three coats of paint to choose from, starting with Blue Water Metallic, Alpine White and Space Grey Metallic.

If what you’ve read sounds appealing to you, know that you’d better act quick, as BMW limited the Dynamic Edition to only 300 units. No price has been released yet, but expect to pay quite a few dollars (or are they rands?) for it.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post 3-Series Dynamic Edition in South Africa appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.