Serial production at BMW's €1bn plant in Debrecen, eastern Hungary, will start in the autumn, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto announced on February 13 after meeting with company executives.

Szijjarto said production of electric vehicles (EVs) at the plant would give an "enormous boost" to the Hungarian economy, after meeting with Milan Nedeljkovic, BMW board member for production, and Hans-Peter Kemser, the director of the factory in Debrecen. 

The factory area in the industrial park of Debrecen site will cover more than 400 hectares and will have a production capacity of 150,000 cars per year.

Market Epito owned by Istvan Garancsi carried out the construction at a cost of €370mn.

The German premium carmaker laid the cornerstone of the plant in the summer of 2022. The plant was originally scheduled to start operation in 2024, but plans were reviewed after the war in Ukraine.

Once completed, Hungary will be one of only three countries globally hosting all three German premium carmaker, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

BMW earlier signalled that it will start production at full capacity, or 150,000, but it has revised these targets to 90,000 according to local media, adjusting production to market needs. The carmaker will kick off serial production with 2,000 and headcount will climb as production ramps up.

Hungary backs a legal challenge by carmakers of the European Commission's tariffs on Chinese-made EVs and the government will cooperate with the German carmaker closely on issues that may affect the competitiveness of the European automotive industry," he added.

The Debrecen plant will be the German carmaker's first carbon-neutral assembly facility and will also include a battery assembly plant.