BMW to Halt Production at Three German Plants

[Bubbles]

Looks like production of all cars will stop until April 23, assuming flight paths open up. Otherwise the delay may be longer.


April 20 (Bloomberg) -- Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the world’s largest maker of luxury cars, will temporarily stop production at three German factories due to a supply shortage caused by the volcanic ash cloud over Europe.

The carmaker will halt its plant in Dingolfing, which produces 5- and 7-Series vehicles, starting with the late shift today, Mathias Schmidt, a spokesman for the manufacturer said in a telephone interview. A plant in Munich, which assembles the 3- Series, and a facility in Regensburg, where 1-Series and Z4 models are produced, will stop production starting tomorrow.

BMW aims to restart production for all three plants on April 23, he said. The temporary production shutdown, caused by a shortage of interior and electronic parts which are normally delivered by air, will delay production of about 7,000 vehicles. No plants outside Germany have been affected, Schmidt said.

The flight ban, introduced after the Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted on April 14, has led to the cancellation of 81,000 flights and is costing carriers as much as $300 million a day in lost revenue, the International Air Transport Association said. With planes out of position and airlines concentrating on repatriating stranded passengers, the restoration of full timetables may take six days, the industry group estimates.

Daimler AG, the maker of Mercedes-Benz cars and trucks, may face isolated logistic and supply disruptions starting tomorrow if European airspace remains closed, Ute von Vellberg, a spokeswoman for the Stuttgart, Germany-based company said.

BMW, based in Munich, is in talks with unions about making up for the production shortfall and aims to ensure customer deliveries aren’t delayed, Schmidt said.
--Editor: Chad Thomas

[RayC]

Son of a...

My car is scheduled for production in the first week of May.

Effing volcano.

[Bubbles]

Originally Posted by RayC

Son of a...

My car is scheduled for production in the first week of May.

Effing volcano.

Could be worse, mine completed day 3 of production. I hope the Tech doesn't forget where he left off.

[Mr C]

I got lucky, my E92 just finished production on Monday, April 19th, and just got released to the carrier, and is on the way to the dock.

[whaleboy]

Yesterday, they said mine had a scheduled completion date of the 23rd... Damn. Anyone know how often the ships go out? I'd hate a 2 day delay to turn into a 2 week delay because of a missed ship. I do know that there is one ship scheduled to leave on the 26th... I was hoping my car would be on it.

-David

[Slpnbyu]

Originally Posted by Bubbles

Could be worse, mine completed day 3 of production. I hope the Tech doesn't forget where he left off.

Same thing here... mine was scheduled for 4/23, which according to the 800# has now been pushed to 4/27.

[whaleboy]

Originally Posted by Slpnbyu

Same thing here... mine was scheduled for 4/23, which according to the 800# has now been pushed to 4/27.

Argh... I just called, same thing, they changed it from the 23rd to the 27th. What really sucks is that I was hoping to get the car at the end of May, because in early June I'll likely have to be out of the country on business for 2 weeks. So this 1 week delay could actually turn into a 3 week delay for me being able to actually get the car...



P.S. I just checked the shipping schedules, and the ship going to my port was departing on the 25th. I was hopeful I'd make that ship. The next one after that doesn't leave for another 2 weeks. So assuming I would have made the first ship (a big assumption I know), I now have a 2 week delay. All from a 2 day factory closure. This really sucks...

-David

[Mr C]

Originally Posted by whaleboy

Yesterday, they said mine had a scheduled completion date of the 23rd... Damn. Anyone know how often the ships go out? I'd hate a 2 day delay to turn into a 2 week delay because of a missed ship. I do know that there is one ship scheduled to leave on the 26th... I was hoping my car would be on it.

-David

After tracking my last car (2009 135i) and just missing the ship, it would seem like ships go out about every two (2) weeks, but I could be wrong.

[Mr C]

Whale Boy, do you have a link to the Shipping Schedules? Thanks,

[whaleboy]

Originally Posted by E82Pilot

Whale Boy, do you have a link to the Shipping Schedules? Thanks,

Yes, for SoCal it looks like every 2 weeks. According to this tracking info...

http://www.bmwblog.com/2009/07/14/ho...d-to-delivery/

The only ships I could find from Bremerhaven, Germany to Port Hueneme, CA (the Socal dropoff port), depart April 25 and May 8.

http://schedule.2wglobal.com/AppSche...countryList.do

-David

[Mr C]

Originally Posted by whaleboy

Yes, for SoCal it looks like every 2 weeks. According to this tracking info...

http://www.bmwblog.com/2009/07/14/ho...d-to-delivery/

The only ships I could find from Bremerhaven, Germany to Port Hueneme, CA (the Socal dropoff port), depart April 25 and May 8.

http://schedule.2wglobal.com/AppSche...countryList.do

-David

Since my car is with the carrier, and on the way to the dock, I guess (I hope) I will make the ship on the 25th.

Thanks for the info,

[Mr C]

Darn, that is one big SHIP:

http://www.shipphotos.co.uk/pages/falstaff.htm

[Mr C]

Wow, you can even track where the ship is:

http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shi...html?call=SLCO