German car manufacturer BMW's new 1.3 billion euro ($1.7 billion) factory in Leipzig was opened on Friday by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. BMW Plant Leipzig will have a production capacity in the medium term of up to 650 vehicles a day. Currently some 2,500 associates are employed at the site. Once it has reached full capacity, the plant is to provide approximately 5,500 jobs. The company expects that the plant will create approximately the same number of additional jobs in the plant’s surrounding area.