The BMW Brilliance joint venture has held a foundation laying ceremony for a new engine plant in Tiexi District, Shenyang City, which will include BMW’s first foundry outside Germany.
Production starts in 2016 with capacity for 400,000 units a year, all for vehicles assembled in the adjacent car plant.
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The new plant will have the foundry plus cylinder block, crankcase and cylinder head machining equipment, an assembly line and supporting facilities. Eventually, all key engine parts will be locally produced, including the block and head. The JV has been making crankshafts, camshafts and conrods locally since 2012 in the current powertrain plant in Shenyang.
The environment friendly light metal foundry will use the sand core production method for low pressure die castings, replacing traditional organic binders with claimed ‘eco-friendly’ inorganic types said to result in ‘close-to-zero’ harmful emissions and ‘best operator working conditions’ at core making and casting machines.
BMW Brilliance said innovative production procedures will achieve a reduction of 98% in emissions of combustion residues.
“When the new engine plant is completed, it will be China’s cleanest engine plant, and together with [car] Plant Tiexi, set benchmarks for the Chinese auto industry in terms of advancement and sustainability,” the automaker said.
BMW Brilliance announced expansion plans in 2009, broke ground for the Tiexi plant in 2010 and opened it in 2012 to build the X1 and redesigned 3 series in both unique to China long wheelbase and standard wheelbase versions. Local production of two litre I4 petrol engines started in Shenyang in March 2012 and, in August, the joint venture announced plans to build the new engine plant.
A new R&D centre will be officially opened this year, too.
