Thailand – BMW Motorrad Announces Local Production From Early Next Year, to Start With F 800 R

The Rayong facility now gets the distinction of being the only plant in the world that produces wares of BMW, MINI and BMW Motorrad.

The F 800 R is a mid-size sports bike with a twin-cylinder 798 cc engine that outputs 87 bhp at 86 Nm.

Even though BMW Motorrad had been selling its products in Thailand since 2001, it was importing all bikes from its plant in Berlin. Head of BMW Motorrad, Stephan Schaller said that the plant might soon be expanded to allocate production for other Asian markets. Earlier this year, BMW had announced a partnership with BMW to manufacture and sell low displacement motorbikes with TVS starting in 2015.

Set up in 2000, the BMW plant in the Eastern coastal city of Rayong comprises of nearly 75,000 sq m. Last year, the plant produced 6,065 cars of MINI and BMW, assembled by 278 workers. At present, the facility assembles the MINI Countryman, BMW 3-series, 5-series, 7-series, X1 and X3. The F 800 R joins this range. The BMW Group has, since establishing the plant in 2000, invested close to 50 million euros in the facility.