As the result of a new joint venture between BMW AG and the SGL Group, which specializes in carbon fiber components, two plants will be built in North America and Germany to produce lightweight parts on a large scale for BMW's planned electric vehicle, the Megacity.

The new venture, in which SGL will have a 51 percent stage, will support the Megacity project, an offshoot of BMW's Project i. Lithium ion batteries for the vehicle will be supplied by a joint venture between Robert Bosch and Samsung SDI.

A spokesman for BMW offered only vague comments about the new SGL project. "We will enter into a new dimension in the use of carbon-fiber reinforced plastics, both in terms of volume per car and in vehicle numbers." Some $340 million will be invested in the project, with production at the plant sites to begin in the first half of 2011.

For its part, SGL offered only a brief statement. "For the first time, carbon fibers are taking on an important role in series vehicle manufacture." The arrangement with BMW is the latest in a series of such ventures undertaken by SGL to stimulate broader industrial use of its products.