FRANKFURT, April 6 (Reuters) - German partners SGL Group and BMW will spend an initial $100 million to set up a U.S. carbon fibre plant to make material for lightweight parts in the premium carmaker's Megacity electric vehicle.
The plant in Moses Lake in the western state of Washington will employ 80 at first and make parts for the new vehicle that BMW, the world's biggest premium carmaker, plans to launch before 2015 under a new sub-brand, the companies said on Tuesday.
SGL chief executive Robert Koehler said electricity from local hydropower sources would mean an energy bill as much as one third of comparable sites elsewhere.
BMW hasn't said much about the Megacity, an electric vehicle targeted at customers in big cities, which will be assembled in Leipzig, Germany.
'It will definitely be a premium car, with more than two seats,' BMW's chief financial officer Friedrich Eichiner told Reuters on Tuesday. 'It will have a premium price. We price usually three months prior to the start of production, so it's a bit early to talk about retail prices.'
He set no firm targets for making a profit on the new car.
'The target of the project is to make money, but it depends on volume (of demand). We are flexible, it's a first step,' said Eichiner. 'Nobody knows really how quickly battery-electric vehicles will take off.'
BMW will have no part in, nor be affected by, an expected partnership between French carmaker Renault, Japan's Nissan and Germany's Daimler , said Eichiner.
'Nothing's changed' in BMW's existing cooperation with Daimler on components, he said. 'We (BMW) don't want to give up our independence. We want to take our own decisions on platforms and derivatives.'
Eichiner and Koehler spoke to Reuters before announcing the new plant at a press conference in Seattle.
SGL and BMW had unveiled in October a joint venture to build lightweight auto components. The new entity, 51 percent owned by SGL, will build two plants in North America and Germany.
The joint venture plans to invest 230 million euros ($308.4 million) in total, 90 million of which will be in the build-up phase.
BMW has enlisted a Bosch and Samsung SDI joint venture to supply lithium-ion battery cells for the Megacity vehicles.
(Additional reporting by Bill Rigby in Seattle; editing by Carol Bishopric)
(Reporting by Irene Preisinger and Frank Siebelt; Writing by Michael Shields) ($1=.7457 Euro) Keywords: SGL/BMW (michael.shields@thomsonreuters.com, Reuters Messaging: michael.shields.reuters.com@reuters.net; +49 69 7565 1266) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
The plant in Moses Lake in the western state of Washington will employ 80 at first and make parts for the new vehicle that BMW, the world's biggest premium carmaker, plans to launch before 2015 under a new sub-brand, the companies said on Tuesday.
SGL chief executive Robert Koehler said electricity from local hydropower sources would mean an energy bill as much as one third of comparable sites elsewhere.
BMW hasn't said much about the Megacity, an electric vehicle targeted at customers in big cities, which will be assembled in Leipzig, Germany.
'It will definitely be a premium car, with more than two seats,' BMW's chief financial officer Friedrich Eichiner told Reuters on Tuesday. 'It will have a premium price. We price usually three months prior to the start of production, so it's a bit early to talk about retail prices.'
He set no firm targets for making a profit on the new car.
'The target of the project is to make money, but it depends on volume (of demand). We are flexible, it's a first step,' said Eichiner. 'Nobody knows really how quickly battery-electric vehicles will take off.'
BMW will have no part in, nor be affected by, an expected partnership between French carmaker Renault, Japan's Nissan and Germany's Daimler , said Eichiner.
'Nothing's changed' in BMW's existing cooperation with Daimler on components, he said. 'We (BMW) don't want to give up our independence. We want to take our own decisions on platforms and derivatives.'
Eichiner and Koehler spoke to Reuters before announcing the new plant at a press conference in Seattle.
SGL and BMW had unveiled in October a joint venture to build lightweight auto components. The new entity, 51 percent owned by SGL, will build two plants in North America and Germany.
The joint venture plans to invest 230 million euros ($308.4 million) in total, 90 million of which will be in the build-up phase.
BMW has enlisted a Bosch and Samsung SDI joint venture to supply lithium-ion battery cells for the Megacity vehicles.
(Additional reporting by Bill Rigby in Seattle; editing by Carol Bishopric)
(Reporting by Irene Preisinger and Frank Siebelt; Writing by Michael Shields) ($1=.7457 Euro) Keywords: SGL/BMW (michael.shields@thomsonreuters.com, Reuters Messaging: michael.shields.reuters.com@reuters.net; +49 69 7565 1266) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.