BMW Motorrad
Since 1969, the BMW plant in Berlin Spandau has been building motorcycles. These BMW motorcycles were then exported to 130 nations all over the world.
And on May 6, 2011, the Berlin BMW plant celebrated a huge milestone – the construction of its 2 millionth motorcycles. The motorcycle that rolled down the assembly line to mark this success was a BMW R 1200 GS.
The 2 millionth GS, which was designed as a special edition with unique graphics, was unveiled to a selection of VIPs and journalist by streetbike freestyle legend Chris Pfeiffer.
After the BMW R 1200 GS unveiling, the motorcycle was handed over be raffled off as part of the “be Berlin” campaign to promote the city.
To mark the occasion, BMW celebrated by holding a special ceremony attended by Klaus Wowereit, Governing Mayor of Berlin, BMW Motorrad employees across the company and a host of invited guests.
During the ceremony, Pfeiffer parked the GS before the crowd, and put on a stunt show for the attendants. BMW says Pfeiffer finished his display with a burnout with his rear tire rubber spelling out “2,000,000” on the tarmac.
Christian Pfeiffer (BMW Stunt rider) says: “I’m really proud to present the two millionth BMW motorcycle here today. I have a really busy schedule but this kind of thing doesn’t happen every day so I really wanted to be here.”
Hendrik von Kuenheim (Head of BMW Motorrad) says: “BMW motorcycles embody ‘sheer riding pleasure’ in its most direct form and these machines are ambassadors of the BMW brand – and at the same time ambassadors of Berlin – all over the world. BMW bikes are exported with ‘Berlin’s air in the tyres’ to 130 countries and the long-standing relationship between Berlin and the BMW Group looks set to continue for a long time.”
Berlin BMW Factory
With 1,900 employees the BMW factory in Berlin produces up to 510 motorcycles a day from all model series, as well as about 24,000 brake discs for the car division. The annual motorcycle output in 2010 amounted to 97,076 machines, whereas in the first year of production in 1969, a total of 12,000 motorcycles were produced in Berlin.
