The BMW Group announced on June 23, 1992, that South Carolina would be the site of its first complete manufacturing facility outside of Germany. The corporation committed to investing $600 million at the time, hiring 2,000 employees by the year 2000, and luring at least nine suppliers to the state. It took a record-breaking 23 months from site groundbreaking to the first car being produced, making it the quickest factory start-up in automotive history.
After more than two decades, the BMW Group has invested close to $12 billion and the facility has undergone five significant expansions. With more than 40 direct Tier 1 suppliers based in South Carolina and more than 300 suppliers nationwide, there are more than 11,000 jobs on-site.
In order to get the factory ready for new iterations of the BMW X model family, the BMW Group announced in 2017 an extra investment of $600 million. Since the plant’s opening, this is the sixth significant expansion.
More than 5 million automobiles have been produced at the company since it began operations in 1994. At the moment, BMW Manufacturing makes more than 1,500 vehicles per day, with 70% of its output going overseas. The plant manufactures the BMW X4, X4 M, X6, and X6 M Sports Activity Coupes, as well as the X3, X3 M, X5, X5 M, and X7 Sports Activity Vehicles.
You must accept permission to store marketing cookies in order for YouTube to display the video.
In This Article...
BMW launched a store in South Carolina a long time ago. The economy in high gear.
The Spartanburg, South Carolina, BMW facility has completely changed the landscape of the region.
When the German automaker BMW bought 900 acres of peach orchards in rural Greer, South Carolina, 27 years ago, it was taking a chance.
The once-thriving region had vanished along with the textile sector. Longstanding mills were forced to close due to cheaper manufacturing overseas, which resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs.
When BMW officials revealed in June 1992 that the business was constructing its first major production facility outside of Germany in their hometown, few people in the area had heard of the automotive behemoth.
One of the first workers employed was Roman. He had also never worked for an automaker and had no prior knowledge of BMW. He observed the plant’s transformation into BMW’s largest facility in the world over the course of 26 years.
Getting a job at the plant is now much more difficult, he claimed. “The entry barriers have risen.”
Nowadays, it’s common to see BMW SUVs and crossovers on the highways of Greer and the currently thriving city of Greenville. This year marked the 25th anniversary of Plant Spartanburg, which employs over 11,000 people to construct the bulk of BMWs sold in America.
A 318i sedan was the first BMW to leave the assembly line in September 1994. Since then, the state has produced more than 4.75 million automobiles, and the 7 million-square-foot complex has undergone six expansions. The plant has received $10.6 billion in investment from the BMW Group, which also owns Rolls-Royce and MINI. This includes millions of dollars for the company’s PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) model production.
According to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, the BMW Group has been the top exporter of value-added vehicles from the United States for the past five years.
According to Woodward, South Carolina saw a “net gain” from the tax breaks that the Munich-based manufacturer obtained from the state government, which totaled nearly $200 million after accounting for inflation.
“The tax revenue BMW has produced is so high that the incentives have already paid for themselves. How fortunate we are to have this investment “He debated.
If BMW had opted to locate its facility somewhere else, according to Woodward, Greenville might not have become what it is today—a attractive, in-demand city to live and work in.
When BMW decided to move here, “the area was floundering,” Woodward said. “Greer and Greenville’s economies have experienced a complete turnaround thanks to BMW. BMW is a cornerstone of the neighborhood.”
Factory tours for BMW
Take a stroll along their production line to observe how the Ultimate Driving Machine is created. This tour starts with the vehicle’s painted body and ends with the finished product leaving the factory.
At the moment, BMW Manufacturing turns out more than 1,400 cars per day. The plant supplies more than 140 international markets with BMW X3, X4, X5, and X6 Sports Activity Vehicles and Coupes (and their derivatives).
Tours of the manufacturing facilities are available for a fee in addition to free museum admission.
BMW will produce a new car at a plant in South Carolina.
The BMW X3, X4, X5, X6 and X7, as well as performance versions of the most of the vehicles, are currently produced in the Spartanburg factory.
According to Zipse, BMW presently exports 70% of the automobiles it manufactures in its American plant. He declined to provide any other information about the new car.
LMC Automotive, an auto intelligence company, anticipates that BMW will start making the X8 at the site early in the following year. Based on BMW’s current three-row X7, the car is anticipated to have two rows.
The Biden administration’s aim of having half of the car industry’s sales be electric vehicles by 2030 is one that Zipse said the corporation “absolutely supports.” But according to him, the current EV charging infrastructure will not allow for the achievement of that objective.
We won’t get there with the infrastructure we have today, but we do have 10 years to work together to build up an infrastructure for charging requirements, among other things, he said. And I believe there is a solid potential to at least approach that market thanks to the infrastructure targets the Biden administration set.
Adding 200 employment, the BMW South Carolina plant will press exterior body pieces.
According to a press statement from the firm, BMW said Thursday that it will spend more than $200 million to build a 219,000 square foot press shop at its Spartanburg, South Carolina factory. This project will result in the creation of more than 200 advanced-level manufacturing positions.
The doors, fenders, exterior body sides, and liftgate of the BMW X will all have sheet metal hang-on parts that press shop workers would cut raw coils of steel into blanks and stamp. It is planned for production to start in the summer of 2024. Robert Engelhorn, president and chief executive officer, announced it at the South Carolina Automotive Summit.
“The press shops of the BMW Group are renowned across the world for their exceptional quality output. The addition of this innovative technology to Plant Spartanburg excites us “added he. “The BMW Group’s commitment to South Carolina and the United States is strengthened by this investment. We continue to have a significant impact on the growth of the labor force and job training in the area.”
Tool and die technicians, line operators with specialized training, and mechanical and electrical maintenance workers will all have jobs at the shop. In the moment, more than 45 employees from Plant Spartanburg are receiving training at BMW Group press facilities in Germany and the UK.
A new 67,000 square foot, $20 million training center is being built at the company and is expected to debut this summer. It will house BMW Scholars, the company’s apprenticeship program, and include a number of classrooms for technical and professional development. Additionally, there will be an outdoor amphitheater and a space outside where staff members can congregate and work.
Plant Spartanburg exported 257,876 BMWs worth more than $10.1 billion to 120 nations last year. In a statement released last month, Milan Nedeljkovic, a member of the BMW manufacturing board of management, claimed that the facility “contributes considerably to the development of the BMW Group” and serves as “the center of competence for our X family of vehicles.”
Is there a BMW factory in South Carolina?
Despite having its headquarters in Germany, BMW has a plant here in South Carolina, and we’re proud of that. Numerous BMW models, including the X3, X5, X7, X4, and X6, are made at the Spartanburg factory.
When did BMW open in Greer, South Carolina?
On June 23, 1992, Spartanburg County triumphed in a significant recruitment campaign for BMW’s first non-Bavarian manufacturing when the company selected Greer over around 250 other locations worldwide. The selection of BMW was regarded as the pinnacle of the South Carolina Piedmont’s effort to attract foreign industrial investment both locally and internationally.
In 1916, the Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW), a high-end German automobile, was founded as an aviation engine manufacturer. In 1923 and 1929, respectively, the business increased production of autos and motorbikes. In Greer, South Carolina, BMW constructed its first full auto assembly line outside of Germany in 1994.
The state’s industrial training program provided access to workforce trained in accordance with BMW’s particular demands and criteria, which was a major factor in the company’s decision to locate in South Carolina. Additionally, BMW had easy access to the North American and international markets because to South Carolina’s transportation network of highways, trains, and deep-water ports. Spartanburg also agreed to buy out the former residents and give BMW the eight hundred acres of property it desired close to the airport and next to Interstate 85.
Beginning in 1994, the Greer factory produced BMW 318i cars before expanding to produce Z3 roadsters in 1995 and X5 sports utility vehicles in 1999. BMW has consistently increased the size and output of its Greer facility. Its capital outlay in the area increased to $1.9 billion by 2001. With a 2.3 million square foot footprint, the factory has more than 4,000 workers. Approximately 7,200 people are employed in the state by the factory’s suppliers.
As to why BMW relocated to South Carolina,
When BMW Chairman Eberhard von Kuenheim declared the business will construct its first full-production factory outside of Germany in June 1992, everything got underway. BMW chose South Carolina as the location due to the state’s sophisticated technical college system, deep-water port in Charleston, and strong work culture.
Is there a union at BMW South Carolina?
Since South Carolina is a “right-to-work” state, BMW’s facility is not unionized, unlike General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), and employee attempts to unionize in 2004 were unsuccessful.
How big is the SC-based BMW plant?
BMW announced plans for a new, 67,000-square-foot training center in February 2021 that will cost $20 million and be used to prepare future workers for the Spartanburg production.
How are cars shipped by BMW out of South Carolina?
The largest car exporter in the Southeast is BMW Manufacturing in Spartanburg, South Carolina, which annually exports nearly 70% of the vehicles it produces. The South Carolina plant exported 281, 256 units to 140 nations in 2015 for a value of close to $10 billion.
According to company spokesman Steve Wilson, the BMW plant in South Carolina is the largest automotive exporting facility in the United States based on the value of exports. Last year, China, Germany, and Great Britain were the top export destinations.
The Port of Charleston, which manages the majority of the facility’s exports, receives BMW vehicles by rail from the Spartanburg plant. The corporation also uses Savannah, Jacksonville, and Miami as shipping hubs.
About 95% of all parts for cars BMW makes in Spartanburg are imported through South Carolina’s Inland Port. According to Sky Foster, corporate communications department manager for BMW Manufacturing in South Carolina, that equates to around 250 sea containers per week and includes components like engines and transmissions.
About 500 sea containers containing parts and components for the BMW X3 and X5 are sent by the BMW plant each week. These containers are sent to developing nations around the world, including Egypt, Malaysia, Thailand, India, and Indonesia.
In 2015, the Inland Port exported roughly 20,000 painted X3 and X5 bodies as well as parts and accessories. The cost of the parts and components BMW exports are not disclosed.
Foster stated via email that “the Inland Port is vital for BMW’s import and export activities.” “BMW is able to make investments in new markets through the company’s export program, where we see room for future expansion. Over the last five years, there has been a huge increase in demand for our X models from emerging economies, and we anticipate this trend to continue.”