BMW opens IT hub for European projects in Romania

BMW TechWorks Romania will become the hub for European IT and software projects, accelerating BMW’s digital transformation, the German car maker said in a press release on Thursday.

"With BMW TechWorks Romania, we are strengthening our footprint in the EU and contributing significantly to the digital experience of our customers [...] Our global IT hubs secure our Business IT and software expertise in the long term and accelerate the implementation of our IT strategy based on latest technologies such as cloud innovations and AI," Alexander Buresch, CIO and Senior Vice President of BMW Group IT, said.

BMW TechWorks Romania aims to double its workforce to 250 developers and reach double-digit million euro turnover by the end of 2024, while eyeing a four-digit headcount in the long term.

In March, NTT DATA Romania signed an agreement with BMW to establish a joint venture in Cluj-Napoca, it said in a press release back then. The joint venture will focus on networked IT systems for complex supply chains and control systems, modern IT production for the BMW iFactory, and developing key IT components for the implementation of the BMW and MINI direct sales model in Europe.

The city of Cluj-Napoca was chosen to house BMW TechWorks Romania due to its “innovation-friendly ecosystem, entrepreneurship, start-ups and high density of IT talent”, according to Ralf Waltram, Vice President and Head of Global DevOps Hubs at BMW Group.

Globally, more than 9,400 employees already work in IT and software development for the BMW Group and its joint ventures.