BMW Plans Czech Proving Ground

BMW AG has selected a 1,200-acre site near Prague in the Czech Republic’s Karlovary Vary region for a proving ground that the company plans to open early next decade.

The new complex will join BMW’s existing proving grounds in Germany, France and Sweden. The Czech facility will focus on developing and testing next-generation technologies such as electrification, digitalization and automated driving. The operations there will support the test center near Munich that BMW opened early this year for autonomous and connected vehicle technologies.

BMW plans to invest more than €100 million ($118 million) and employ several hundred workers at the Prague site. The company has been negotiating with the Czech government for more than two years on the project.