BMW ActiveHybrid 5 Concept
First General Motors said it would add 1,000 workers purely to work on electric cars. Now it's BMW's turn.
In a strong indicator of its commitment to developing hybrid and pure electric vehicles, BMW says it will hire an additional 2,600 employees over the next two years to work in these particular fields.
The move is part of the automaker’s desire to meet stricter fuel economy and emissions regulations, both here in the U.S. and in Europe, by accelerating the development of green models with radically more efficient powertrains.
The latest hiring strategy is to enable BMW, as well as its MINI and Rolls-Royce brands, to be leaders in the development of electric vehicles, hybrid powertrains and cleaner combustion engines.
BMW had cut its workforce between 2007 and 2009, but over the past 18 months, employment rates have been on the rise. It has brought around 1,000 new workers on board recently.
Not surprisingly, close rivals Audi and Mercedes-Benz are doing the same. In fact, Mercedes-Benz is planning to hire 2,500 more employees at a new small-car plant in Hungary where the next-generation A and B-Class models will be built.
As for BMW, it has the ActiveHybrid 5 going on sale next year and just a little but further down the track we will finally get to see the MegaCity electric vehicle debut as well as a production version of the Vision EfficientDynamics hybrid supercar concept.
