BMW said, together with the Romanian unit of Japanese IT and business services company NTT Data it had opened a new IT and software hub in Romania’s northwestern city of Cluj-Napoca.

BMW TechWorks Romania would become the hub for European IT and software projects, the automaker told SeeNews.com.

"With BMW TechWorks Romania, we are strengthening our footprint in the EU and contributing significantly to the digital experience of our customers […] Our global IT hubs secure our business IT and software expertise in the long term and accelerate the implementation of our IT strategy based on latest technologies such as cloud innovations and AI," Alexander Buresch, CIO and senior vice president of BMW Group IT, said.

BMW TechWorks Romania aims to double its workforce to 250 developers and reach double digit million euro turnover by the end of 2024 while eyeing a four digit headcount in the long term.

SeeNews.com noted NTT Data Romania last March signed an agreement with BMW to establish the joint venture in Cluj-Napoca. It would focus on networked IT systems for complex supply chains and control systems, modern IT production for the iFactory, and developing key IT components for the implementation of direct sales models in Europe.

The city was chosen due to its “innovation friendly ecosystem, entrepreneurship, start ups and high density of IT talent”, according to Ralf Waltram, head of global DevOps hubs at BMW Group.

Globally, 9,400 employees already work in IT and software development for the group and its JVs.