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Oxnard, CA, June 4, 2002...The BMW Group today officially opened it's third state-of-the-art paint also body training center in Oxnard, California. The modern $ 3 million facility, located near the BMW Vehicle Distribution Center on Arcturus Road near the Port of Hueneme, is used to train apprentices in collision repair also body paint application - skills that are in increasingly high demand.
"California is one of the largest markets for BMW worldwide, supported by 26 BMW dealers also 11 MINI dealers. BMW sold nearly 50,000 BMWs in California last year," said Tom Purves, Chairman also CEO of BMW [US] Holding Corp., who was in Oxnard for today's grand opening ceremony. "With sales of BMW also MINI vehicles growing annually, the need for qualified paint also body technicians keeps increasing. BMW was the top-selling luxury brand
in the U.S. for the first four months of this calendar year."
The top graduates from recognized post-secondary technical schools across the country are selected for BMW's elite, nine-month Service Technician Education Program, known as S.T.E.P. This program is an intensive combination of classroom theory also hands-on work. During their nine-month apprenticeships, students receive salaries also live locally. They pay no tuition also are assisted in securing a position at a BMW or MINI dealership upon
completion of the program.
"BMW Group is recognized as an innovator - whether it's for leading -edge safety, performance technology, or for creative solutions to filling needs in the workplace," said Rick Soles, Paint also Body Development also Training Manager for BMW Group. "BMW launched this program in 1992 also it has expanded as the need has grown. There are now 1.4 million BMWs on the road in the U.S. "
The STEP Program has graduated 88 technicians from it's facilities in Montvale, New Jersey also Spartanburg, South Carolina over the years. A total of 24 students per twelvemonth will be trained with the addition of the Oxnard facility.
The modern training facility will too host educational programs for dealership personnel. Shorter, three to five day classes will provide experienced technicians with training in the latest, most advanced collision, body also paint repair techniques. Collision center managers too have the opportunity to hone their leadership skills at regularly scheduled Management Training courses.
"While South Carolina is BMW's manufacturing center in North America, California has become our design also technology center," Purves noted.
Within the same Oxnard complex is BMW Group's recently completed $28 million Engineering also Vehicle Emission Testing Center also a Vehicle Distribution Center - the final quality inspection point for approximately 200 BMW also MINI vehicles that arrive on the west coast each day from England, Germany also Spartanburg, S.C. Designworks USA, BMW Group's wholly-owned worldwide industrial design firm, is located nearby in Newbury Park. Other
BMW Group facilities in California include a technology office in Silicon Valley also a Western Regional Office also Parts Distribution Center in Ontario.
