BMW hires 3,000 staff in Germany

BMW HAS hired 3,000 new staff in Germany this year to cope with the demand for its new 3 Series model (pictured left).

Dr Helmut Panke, a BMW board member, said that the company has cancelled the normal summer holiday at its Munich plant and shortened the holiday at its Regensburg plant from two weeks to one week in an attempt to speed up production of the 3 Series saloon. Dr Panke yesterday described the launch of the 3 Series as "the best and most successful model launch to date", adding that sales figures for 1998 would show a huge rise compared with the previous year.

By the end of July almost 70,000 new cars had been produced in BMW's Munich and Regensburg plants, Dr Panke said. He said that a third German plant would be starting production within the next few days.