BMW Group’s City of Tshwane-based technology solutions unit, the BMW IT Hub South Africa, will contribute more than R4 billion to South Africa’s economy in 2026.
So said Jan Lotter, GM for customer brand sales at BMW IT Hub SA, speaking to media yesterday at the hub’s 20th anniversary celebration in Menlyn, where BMW Group South Africa brought together stakeholders, industry partners and government officials, including Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi.
The occasion included guided tours of the hub’s facilities, a showcase of South African-developed innovations, and a fireside discussion focused on the next-generation of tech talent.
Billed as the “youngster” of BMW South Africa’s four business entities, the BMW IT Hub provides IT solutions and consultancy services for a variety of areas across the group.
The four business entities comprise the Rosslyn plant, which marked the start of BMW South Africa 53 years ago; a national sales company in Midrand; financial services; and the BMW IT Hub.
Peter van Binsbergen, chairman and CEO of BMW Group South Africa, commented: “This 20-year milestone is a testament to the world-class talent we have right here in South Africa.
“The hub has evolved from a support centre into a global innovation powerhouse, and as we lean further into AI and data-driven mobility, our Pretoria team will be at the very heart of BMW Group’s digital future.”
Thorsten Achenbach, director of the BMW IT Hub, added: “This milestone reflects our commitment to transforming local potential into global innovation, ensuring South Africa remains a key architect of the BMW Group’s digital journey.”
From humble beginnings
Lotter said the BMW IT Hub South Africa, also known as the ZA Hub, is theGerman auto manufacturer’s first IT Hub.
Established in 2006 with only 11 people as part of its staff, the hub now has a workforce of 2 600 technology professionals that manage everything from production line data, to customer-facing platforms across more than 130 BMW locations worldwide, noted Lotter.
It started out as SAP Shared Services, he said, adding that the first project was to transfer the SAP knowledge from the Rosslyn plant to ramp-up plants in China.
“They needed skills in a small standalone environment, production facility, etc. The head office in Munich therefore decided that the appropriate skills would be from South Africa and transferred to China.
“BMW follows a global delivery model where the product is built in an environment and exported to the rest of the world. Just like the BMW plant in Rosslyn, it builds a world model of the BMW X3 plug-in hybrid. While the Rosslyn plant builds cars, the hub builds software.”
While it started with a focus on SAP skills, the hub has expanded over time, according to Lotter. “We don’t do in-vehicle IT development and operations, but focus mainly on [BMW] businesses, covering software in plants, dealers, platforms, sales and marketing environment, and across all the other disciplines.
“Because we’ve been focused on the technology side of things, we’ve had growth. However, the key ingredient to the success of the ZA Hub is our collaborations. Our ‘hubsters’ are also proving to be very successful global project leaders and enablers.
“The software is developed here…and goes live in more than 40 countries. We support BMW’s business processes and units in every market that it is present in.”
Talent development hub
During his address, Lesufi underscored the strong partnership between BMW Group South Africa and the provincial government in advancing digital skills and innovation.
The BMW IT Hub has focused on closing the digital skills gap through collaborations with local universities, including the University of Pretoria and University of Stellenbosch.
It also has established a graduate tech academy, which has attracted 134 participants for this year. These are graduates that have finished university, who will be upskilled for the industry.
Tumi Thabane, GM for logistics, shopfloor and OtD platforms at the BMW IT Hub South Africa, said the hub’s tech talent comprises of software development teams, data scientists, test analysts, cyber security, business analysts, data engineers, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning operations experts, software engineers, etc.
Thabane said the hub absorbs about 80% of the graduates to be part of the local workforce. “They first join the temporary employment services…and even though we don’t absorb everyone, they leave here with experience for the next company.”
According to Dannie Smit, CTO at BMW IT Hub South Africa, more than 100 people are building AI solutions for the BMW Group.
These range from mobile analytics, to platforms for quality production assessment, building digital twins of the vehicles, as well as analytics for future predictions, noted Smit.
The facility also has outreach programmes, which have reached more than 40 000 individuals through mentorship and career exposure.
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