Dubai: Don’t wait around for the electric car revolution to happen in the Middle East. The time to start prepping the ground starts right now. The BMW Group certainly thinks so.
This December, the German carmaker will commission a full-fledged training centre in Dubai for after-sales personnel at its importers in the region. The 5,300 square metre facility in Dubai South can train around 2,000 personnel, including those working on the Mini and Rolls-Royce brands.
But that’s just part of it. The facility will be one of three BMW Group centres across Europe and Asia to have, what the manufacturer says, will be “high voltage training for plug-in hybrid and BMW i models”.
“Training will be offered that will ensure staff are [future]-proofed for innovations in BMW Group’s electric and PHEV plug-in hybrid electric vehicle] models,” said a spokesperson.
For now, the “specific trainings for handling electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles have been conducted in Europe and Asia for all the importers which have launched these cars in market.”
Last year was “significant year in terms of a shift towards electrification in the region. Sales more than doubled for BMW iPerformance models — the plug-in hybrid vehicles — which was largely driven by the Jordanian market. Over the coming five to 10 years, we anticipate a shift in demand from combustion engines towards electric and plug-in-hybrid vehicles.”
By 2025, the group intends to have 25 electric models, of which 12 will be all-electric. Among the first of these will be an all-electric Mini next year and an all-electric BMW X3 crossover in 2020. And just this month, it issued teasers on the iNEXT SUV, due to hit the roads some time in 2021.
“Currently, we don’t have a BMW Training Centre in the Middle East,” the spokesperson added. “This means that staff from our importers have had to travel to places outside the region to attend trainings. Or we have brought in experts and booked an external venue to facilitate training.
“We are much looking forward to the opening of the new facility, as it will greatly benefit our work in the region. The BMW Group has directly made the investment.”
Apart from the electric focus, the facility will include a Brand & Customer Institute for training focused on all three group-owned marques. Plus, there will be four technical training units, including one for bodyworks, another for BMW Motorrad training, and two for non-technical training units for sales and aftersales.
Electric and hybrid add up to quite a bit at BMW
BMW and Mini sales of electrified vehicles totalled 26,858 units globally in the first three months of the year and, according to a BMW Group spokesman, are “on track to achieve [the group’s] target of delivering at least 140,000 electrified models in 2018”. Sales of the BMW iPerformance plug-in hybrids are up more than 40 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
