BMW Ads 12 Extra Shifts at the Munich Plant to increase 3-Series Production

BMW said it will add 12 extra shifts at its Munich plant during the first half of 2013, due to high demand for the BMW 3-Series.

BMW’s works council head told WirtschaftsWoch that the automaker will add the 12 extra shifts due to increased demand for the 3-Series and that the plant will produce with 6,000 units more during the first half of next year. As the automaker has a flexible production line it can also avoid a severe drop in demand without being forced to resort to major job cuts.

BMW’s chairman Manfred Schoch said that the automaker can deal with a 30% drop over a period of four years, without being forced to lay off its permanent employees. In order to cope with an eventual drop in demand employees have agreed with BMW to close plants during holidays, to lay off temporary workers or cut working day to only two per week. This new agreement will protect BMW’s employees until 2017.

Last month BMW managed to reach double-digit growth selling 157,618 vehicles, up 13.2% compared with October 2011. During the first ten months of the year, the automaker sold 1,493,153 units, up 8.8%. The BMW 3 Series sold 37,123 vehicles, an increase of 16.9% from last year’s 31,768 units.