The BMW Group, an automotive manufacturer, announced that it has broken ground at the site of a new vehicle distribution centre at the Port of Galveston, Texas, US. BMW is expanding its vehicle distribution network to south eastern Texas to better serve the 45 BMW and MINI dealers within Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas.
“Rapid delivery to our customers and dealers is a key element to exceptional customer service,” said Craig Westbrook, Aftersales Vice President of BMW North America. “Once fully operational, the new Port of Galveston vehicle distribution centre will enable us to receive, prepare and deliver vehicles to the southern region even more quickly than before.”
The facility will be owned and operated by WWL Vehicle Services Americas under BMW Group on-site management. WWL Vehicle Service Americas is a global provider of auto processing and outbound vehicle logistics services and is part of the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics group.
“WWL Vehicle Services Americas is proud to build a state-of-the-art vehicle distribution centre to provide the highest quality processing and support the BMW Group’s distribution in the Gulf region,” said John Felitto, President and Chief Executive Officer of WWL Vehicle Services Americas.
Once the Galveston vehicle distribution centre is fully operational in 2016, the BMW Group plans to import and process approximately 32,500 vehicles annually with a workforce of 40 BMW Group and WWL Vehicle Services Americas employees. The facility will include over 44,000 sq ft of processing space in two buildings on approximately 20 acres of land. Vehicle inspection, repairs, accessory installation, vehicle programming and vehicle maintenance and storage will be performed there.
The facility is scheduled to be ready to receive its first shipment of cars for processing in early 2016.
