BMW Brazil has been producing 3 series cars in his work in Araquari in Santa Catarina since 2014. In the 11 years since the company’s first factory in South America, 45,000 3 series units were put together. To mark the milestone, the local branch of the luxury car manufacturer adds a new color: Arctic Race Blue Metallic.
While the color, internally with the code name “C4F”, is new to the Brazilian market for 3, it has been available in other markets for some time. The color range joins for the 2026 model year and is offered in all three versions of the luxury sedan: 320i GP, 320i Sport GP and 320i m of sport. Local customers can also choose from alpine white, sapphire black, skyscraper gray, Brooklin Gray and Portimao Blue.
The Araquari factory from BMW also builds the X1 and X4 crossovers, even though it is on the way to the outside. The plug-in Hybrid X5 XDRIVE50E has also been producing since the end of last year. So far, more than 100,000 vehicles have been put together in the so -called “largest premium car factory in South America”. In 2024 alone, the plant produced 11,472 vehicles, which corresponds to an increase of 8.1% compared to the previous year. However, there is still room for growth because the system has an annual production capacity of 32,000 units.
In addition to the assembly line, the factory contains body and paint bodies. The area comprises 1.5 million square meters and comprises 112,893 square meters of buildings. BMW plans to invest 1.1 billion BRL (200 million US dollars) by the end of 2028. The investment will go into the “Local Production of other new models and for the development of new technologies”. The work employs 1,300 people directly and supports a further 2,500 by partners, suppliers and dealers.
Here is a funny fact about Araquari. It is the only BMW factory in the global production network for the production of petrol, plug-in hybrid and flex fuel vehicles under one roof. The B48 engine of the 3 Series engine was specially adapted for fuel with an ethanol mixture of 25%.
Source: BMW
