Officials and employees celebrate the BMW South Carolina plant's 25th anniversary
BMW Announces $600M Investment in South Carolina Plant
Spartanburg, S.C. – The BMW South Carolina production plant will receive a $600 million investment from 2018 to 2021, the BMW Group announced. The announcement came during a celebration of the facility’s 25th anniversary in Spartanburg, S.C.
The BMW South Carolina facility is the organization’s largest plant worldwide. Last year was a record for the plant, as it produced more than 411,000 units.
The BMW Group produces BMW X models for the U.S. and global markets. Around 1,400 BMW X3, X4, X5 and X6 vehicles come off the assembly line every working day, according to a release.
The new investment will help the facility produce future generations of BMW X models of luxury cars. Currently the BMW South Carolina plant is ramping up for production of the all-new BMW X7. The X7 is slated to launch in late 2018. Earlier this year the organization announced plans for 40 new and revised BMW models by 2020.
A South Carolina Success
The BMW Group announced plans to build the BMW South Carolina plant in 1992. Since that time the BMW Group has invested $8 billion in the facility to date. Nearly 3.9 million vehicles have rolled off the production line since manufacturing started in 1994.
Nearly 70 percent of the vehicles produced in Spartanburg reach more than 140 countries worldwide. In 2016, 287,000 BMW vehicles with a total value of more than $10 billion were exported from Spartanburg, of which 86 percent were shipped from the Port of Charleston.
According to a study produced by the University of South Carolina Moore School of Business, the nationwide economic impact of the BMW South Carolina plant is $38.5 billion annually. In total, the company supports approximately 70,000 direct and indirect jobs in the U.S.
That number increases to 120,000 jobs if employment outside of the automotive industry are taken into account.
In Spartanburg alone, the facility employs more than 9,000 people. Further, the company plans to add another 1,000 employees to its workforce by 2021 as a result of the new $600 million investment.
Training at the plant is based on the German dual apprenticeship training system that combines classroom learning with practical experience. In the past 10 years, the BMW Group has invested more than $220 million in vocational and continued training at the Spartanburg facility.
“The BMW Group’s success story in the U.S. would not have been possible without the open arms and warm hearts of the people and elected officials in the great state of South Carolina and the surrounding region,” said Harald Krüger, chairman of the board of management of BMW AG, said at the anniversary celebration.
“Our relationship with South Carolina has been built upon decades of professionalism, mutual trust and respect – and goes far beyond just building great cars.”
