BMW iX4 Production Is Underway In Hungary, At The Plant That Built 50,000 iX3s In Less Than A Year
BMW X4
The NA7 BMW iX4 is the second Neue Klasse model built in Debrecen, and the iX4 50 xDrive is rated at up to 828 km WLTP.
Article Summary
- The iX4 50 xDrive can add up to 387 km (240 miles) of range in 10 minutes at 400 kW, and the iX4 40 xDrive is rated at 638 km (396 miles) WLTP.
- Debrecen has run three shifts, 24 hours a day, since September, after building its 50,000th iX3 in July.
- BMW is investing more than €2 billion in the plant, which also assembles the cars’ batteries and is planned for about 150,000 cars a year.
The BMW iX4 is now in series production at BMW’s plant in Debrecen, Hungary, four months ahead of its March 2027 market launch. It’s the second Neue Klasse model built there after the iX3, and the longer-range iX4 50 xDrive is rated at up to 828 km (514 miles) on the WLTP cycle, which is more than the iX3 manages. Internally coded NA7, the iX4 takes the X4’s recipe of a sloping roofline over SUV proportions and moves it onto Neue Klasse hardware.
How Far Does The iX4 Go On A Single Charge?
Two versions launch in March, and both are already coming off the line. The iX4 50 xDrive pairs its 828-km WLTP rating with a 400-kW peak charging rate, enough to add up to 387 km (240 miles) in 10 minutes. The iX4 40 xDrive is rated at up to 638 km (396 miles) WLTP. A range-topping iX4 M60 xDrive follows shortly and will also be built in Debrecen.
Against the iX3 50 xDrive, the coupé comes out ahead on both counts. The iX3 is rated at up to 805 km (500 miles) WLTP and adds 372 km (231 miles) in 10 minutes at the same 400-kW peak. BMW doesn’t explain the gap, but a lower roofline that pushes through less air is the obvious suspect.
Both launch models use BMW’s sixth-generation eDrive, with cylindrical battery cells and an 800-volt electrical system. Their electric motors come from BMW’s plant in Steyr, Austria, which already supplies the motors for the Debrecen-built iX3.
Debrecen Is Now Building Cars Around The Clock
The iX4 lands in a busy factory: Debrecen’s iX3 ramp-up was the fastest ever at a new BMW Group plant, with the 50,000th car built in July, less than a year after production began. A few weeks later, BMW added a third shift, and the plant has run 24 hours a day since September. More than 100,000 European customers ordered the iX3 in the year after its world premiere, and it was named 2026 World Car of the Year.
Hans-Peter Kemser, president and CEO of BMW Group Plant Debrecen, called the start of iX4 production “an important new chapter in the history of the Debrecen plant.” He added that the factory now takes on a larger role in building BMW’s electric models, and the workforce is still growing, with training running alongside the expansion.
How Debrecen Builds The iX4, From Battery To Body
Debrecen is a complete vehicle plant, with its own press shop, body shop, paint shop and final assembly, and it builds electric cars only. It also assembles the high-voltage batteries for its cars on site, so the iX4’s pack doesn’t have to travel before it meets the body. BMW planned the whole factory digitally under its iFACTORY production concept, and the plant officially opened in September 2025 as BMW’s first new car factory in Europe in more than two decades.
BMW is investing more than €2 billion in the 400-hectare site, which is planned for about 150,000 cars a year. Debrecen burns no fossil fuels and runs entirely on renewable electricity. Solar panels on site cover about a quarter of its annual power needs, and surplus solar energy goes into a thermal storage system with 1,800 cubic meters of volume and 130 MWh of capacity.
What BMW hasn’t said is how those 150,000 annual slots will split between the iX3 and the iX4, a mix that shifts again in March 2027, when production of the iX4 M60 xDrive is due to begin.
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