Only two years later, in September 1994, hundreds of ecstatic coworkers celebrated as the first BMW manufactured in the United States rolled off the production line in Spartanburg County. Today, more than 11,000 people work at the BMW Plant Spartanburg, where 1,500 BMWs are produced daily.
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History[edit]
BMW announced in 1992 that it would expand its global production network by constructing a 1,150-acre (470 hectare) manufacturing complex in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, USA. The facility debuted in 1994.
BMW said in 2010 that it would invest $750 million to increase production at the Greer factory. The plant will grow to be the largest car manufacturing in the US based on personnel count and be able to produce 240,000 vehicles annually. In 2015, 339 dealerships in the United States sold 346,023 vehicles, making it the largest single market for BMW.
In January 2012, the two millionth vehicle produced by BMWUSM left the manufacturing facility. It is a vermilion red metallic X3 xDrive35i with an Oyster Nevada interior and a M Sport Package, and it was driven by 16-year BMW veteran and BMW Associate Terry Gardner. Renita Williams, Trang Pham, and Olga Yurchenko were also present. These employees are teams from the Body, Paint, and Assembly manufacturing technologies at the plant. To honor the achievement, the car was kept on display at the Spartanburg Plant.
The 23,000 workers (BMW and contract) at the $2.2 billion facility are a component of the company’s five-plant worldwide production network.
BMW’s largest US production, with an annual capacity of 480,000 vehicles when incorporating the X7, will be located in Spartanburg, South Carolina, thanks to an additional $1 billion investment by the automaker announced in 2014. In 2016, there were 411,171 automobiles produced, and 140 different nations received 70% of the exports. In terms of volume of vehicles produced, the facility is the largest BMW facility in the world.
In 2018, around 70% of production was exported to 125 markets, which set a new record. China was the largest export destination, receiving one-third of total exports. BMW stopped selling the X3 to China that year.
Many of the plant’s demands for cargo and completed vehicles are taken care of by a neighboring dry inland port, 200 miles from the port of Charleston. 2015 saw the shipment of 250,000 new automobiles via rail from BMW Spartanburg to the port of Charleston. There is some use of air freight.
our facility
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.
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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.”
Spartanburg investments at the BMW plant
BMW Plant Spartanburg has created more than 4.7 million vehicles since it first opened in 1994. More than 1,500 automobiles are currently constructed there every day, with 11,000 people working on-site; 70% of that output is headed for 125 various international markets. The plant has received a total investment from the firm of $10.6 billion, a sum appropriate for its significance to BMW. Given that Americans adore crossovers, it is not unexpected that the BMW Plant Spartanburg produced almost 49% of the company’s total U.S. sales in 2019.
BMW Plant Spartanburg supports 121,000 employment in the United States, according to University of South Carolina Professor Doug Woodward, who was quoted by ABC News. This is because of the supplier network and higher consumer spending by its employees. According to Woodward, the corporation increases the U.S. GDP by around $16 billion annually.
In 1994, BMW became the first German automaker to establish operations in the United States; however, since then, several companies have done the same. Many of Mercedes-SUVs Benz’s have been produced in Alabama since 1995, where they are exported to 135 different markets. Volkswagen produces the Passat and Atlas for the US market in Chattanooga, Tennessee, while Volvo sells vehicles to all corners of the globe at its production facility in Ridgeville, South Carolina.
How BMW established a supply chain hub in Spartanburg, South Carolina
With a proposal for an inland port that is now utilized by shippers ranging from Adidas to John Deere, the automaker approached the state and Norfolk Southern.
South Carolinians waited tensely, particularly those in the upstate area near Greenville. In 1992, the region was considered as a potential location for BMW’s new production facility. A tempting offer was crafted by legislators and deal makers that, if accepted, may have a long-term effect on the state’s economy.
In the early 20th century, the area was home to one of the nation’s greatest textile manufacturing sectors. This area was seeking success after this business was mostly outsourced. But even those who were eagerly awaiting BMW’s decision to settle in South Carolina had no idea how the German business would go on to shape the state’s economic future. BMW would establish Spartanburg, South Carolina, as a center of logistics with its entry.
When then-Gov. Carroll Campbell signed legislation in April 1992 offering BMW $35 million in incentives if it chose to operate in South Carolina, the state was just as optimistic. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the state reportedly guaranteed $5 million in further tax benefits.
According to Automotive News, the state received its resolution in June 1992 with a statement made at the Greenville Marriott Hotel during a lunch of bratwurst and Bavarian cabbage. South Carolina would soon welcome BMW.
The business chose South Carolina as its new home for a number of reasons at the time.
These explanations have held up better throughout time than others:
- Jim Tolson, a plant controller and administrator for the Greenville operations of German-based Robert Bosch Corp, told Automotive News in 1992 that there were European restaurants in the area. “This place has a distinct European feel about it. It seems sense that a corporation like BMW would be drawn to such setting.”
- Despite its significant state incentives, South Carolina had a reliable supply chain setup. According to a 1993 article in The New York Times, BMW was drawn to the area because of “the closeness of both the port of Charleston and major automotive suppliers.”
The choice was influenced by infrastructure, according to Steve Wilson, a BMW media communications specialist who the business has dubbed “the living archive of BMW Spartanburg.”
Wilson stated, “We had and still have a good interstate system. Because BMW had long-term intentions for its patent factory to export cars outside of the United States, “the deepwater port was a crucial factor.”
The Spartanburg site was close to an airport, and the state had a rail network. But at the time, these resources weren’t quite in the position where BMW needed them to be.
There were no international planes passing through the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport in the early 1990s. According to Automotive News, a condition of the deal that drew BMW to the state was that the airport extend its runway to let the automaker’s Transatlantic 747 freight planes to land—less than a 10-minute drive from the manufacturing site.
And as soon as BMW began operating in the area, the facility’s freight volume rapidly increased, rising by 344% YoY between 1992 and 1993. According to statistics from the airport, volume has been increasing.
BMW
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.