New BMW engineering and testing center in California

30 April 1999

BMW of North America announced that construction has began on BMW Group's $28 million North American engineering and vehicle emission testing center in Oxnard, CA. The new center, which will serve the product engineering needs of both BMW and Land Rover in North America, will be built on an 11-acre site next to the company's Vehicle Preparation Center and will replace the current facility in Marina del Rey, CA.

When complete next spring, BMW Group employment in Oxnard will increase by an additional 100 jobs, making it the largest BMW Group site in California. The existing Vehicle Preparation Center in Oxnard currently employs about 140 people.

Both BMW and Land Rover just reported the best first quarter US sales in their respective histories.

The new engineering center, the North American satellite of the main BMW Group research and development center in Munich, will be the base for all Group engineering in the USA. It will house engineering and research functions related to engine development and long-term engine performance.

An important part of the engineering center will be its emissions testing laboratory containing nearly $7 million worth of state-of-the-art equipment. The equipment includes seven new test cells for monitoring tailpipe, evaporative and refueling emissions.

In addition to development testing, the emissions laboratory also will do in-use emissions testing to confirm BMW and Land Rover vehicle compliance with Environmental Protection Agency and California state emissions requirements.

The BMW North American manufacturing center is located in South Carolina.

Source: BMW North America