At a time when South African manufacturing stories usually begin with contraction, consolidation or retreat, BMW South Africa is telling a different story…a story of expansion, of record exports, of skills development beyond its own immediate need, and of a local operation that is not only surviving in a difficult economy but actively outperforming some of BMW’s global plants.
Against a national backdrop of sluggish economic growth, declining manufacturing output and mounting pressure on job creation, BMW South Africa has emerged as a rare counterpoint. The company is the clear leader in the local premium segment, while its Rosslyn plant has just delivered its strongest production performance in more than five decades. It’s a combination of commercial success and relevance that is increasingly difficult to achieve here, and yet, increasingly important too.
To understand how this has been possible, we sat down with BMW Group South Africa CEO Peter van Binsbergen and BMW Plant Rosslyn Director Danny Bester for a view from the top – not just on BMW SA’s current season, but on what it takes to future-proof a global automotive business in South Africa today.
It’s against this backdrop that Peter Van Binsbergen gives us an overview of the company’s local performance and his views of the future, the things that he’s fighting for and the things that he thinks, keep BMW on a winning streak. If you don’t believe BMW is winning, let me enlighten you: Their local product sales results show them as the leading premium brand, 46% ahead of their closest competitors Audi and Mercedes-Benz. MINI saw 7% growth and BMW’s Motorcycle arm Motorrad grew some 7%. On a global scale, the BMW South Africa Group was ranked top in BMW M sales growth and ranked in the Top 5 growth markets for the 2025 year. That’s simply from a strong product portfolio significantly underpinned by the success of the BMW X3 that is both locally built and a local bestseller for BMW.
Beyond the local sales, however, the BMW plant in Rosslyn also achieved record numbers in 2025. Exports of over 79 000 units marked the first time that number has been achieved in over 52 years. This was according to Danny Bester, the Director of BMW Plant Rosslyn. These are the main contributors to a healthy and successful 2025 year. Beyond this, the commitment to local skills and training remains, with large apportionment of budget to upskill and train locals to achieve the level of skill and competence required to run what is actually one of the leading BMW X3 plants in the world. The X3 is of course, a global volume seller for BMW and as such it is built in three countries: China, America and South Africa with SA being the only plant that builds the X3 PHEV variant for worldwide export. Running a three-shift operation, six days a week with components coming in from Europe, China and the Americas, skills development and training remains a key component.
The two BMW leaders are not naive about the state of the country and the motor industry more specifically. A part of Peter Van Binsbergen’s job is to lobby government to improve the lay of the land for local manufacturing. It’s a tense subject as one weighs up the rise of Chinese products making their way into South Africa not just as importers, but more recently as local manufacturers setting up SKD operations, and not the full gambut of building cars from scratch. Key questions around whether these SKD plants actually create jobs or create skills and community upliftment are constantly being asked and Mr Van Binsbergen believes that these aren’t the answers. The answer, in his mind, is CKD operations with a large volume of local partners and suppliers to truly reap the benefits for the economy in the long run. These are legitimate concerns but he’s also concerned about the sustainability and longevity of volume selling very cheap cars. Its the future effects that has on the economy that he questions, the viability of that for consumers in the long run and ultimately, how that plays out for the used car markets, the local manufacturing markets and the long-term “unintended consequences.”
So what does 2026 look like for BMW Group South Africa?
New Products
It’s the year of the Neue Klasse BMW, a new era in BMW design, technology and experience. It’s the year in which we can expect to see the new BMW iX3, the car that won TopGear UK’s coveted Car of the Year for 2025. Also following this, the updated BMW 7-series and an all-new BMW X5 Luxury SUV and beyond that into 2027 and 2028, up to 40 new cars will follow in a mix of ICE, BEV and PHEV drivetrains.
From MINI, expect some Electrified versions of the MINI Aceman and MINI Hatch as well as some hot JCW models including cabriolet versions.
From Motorrad, an all-new, value-packed F450GS will launch in Q2 this year, attempting to capture a younger market and to keep customers from considering cheaper alternatives.
BMW’s leadership is realistic about what lies ahead. Both Van Binsbergen and Bester acknowledge that replicating the highs of 2025 will not be easy. Market volatility, global economic pressure and shifting consumer and government behaviour all play a part in 2026 outlook. Either way, the leadership remains firm on better execution: improving efficiencies, deepening skills development, expanding AI usage within the plant and continuing to meet sustainability targets such as zero waste to landfill.
What becomes clear after spending time with BMW’s leadership is that the company’s success in South Africa is not accidental, nor purely cyclical. It is the result of long-term commitment to local manufacturing, a deliberate investment in people and skills, and a refusal to chase short-term volume at the expense of long-term sustainability. Rosslyn is not treated as a satellite plant and South Africa is not managed as a peripheral market.
In a country where the future of manufacturing is often questioned, BMW South Africa offers a compelling alternative narrative. One where global relevance, local investment and commercial success are not mutually exclusive, but interdependent. It may not be an easy path, but it is one that is clearly paying dividends. And in the current South African context, that alone makes BMW’s story worth chatting about.
