BMW to invest $600M, create another 1,000 jobs in SC
BMW CEO Harald Krueger said Monday morning that his company will invest another $600 million in Plant Spartanburg and create another 1,000 jobs here over the next four years.
BMW CEO Harald Krueger said Monday morning that his company will invest another $600 million in Plant Spartanburg and create another 1,000 jobs here over the next four years.
That will bring the BMW workforce in Spartanburg County to more than 10,000 people, Krueger said at the company’s celebration of 25 years in Upstate South Carolina.
BMW also will roll out a national training program, Krueger said.
The celebration is centered around the unveiling of the newest BMW X3 model, which is manufactured in Spartanburg.
Company officials emphasized the German automaker’s commitment to South Carolina and the United States.
Monday’s announcement was held in Hall 52 of the X3/X4 North Assembly building. More than 40 media outlets – national and international – attended.
BMW announced its decision to build its North American plant in Spartanburg on June 22, 1992. The plant opened in 1994.
At the time, BMW pledged to invest $600 million and create 2,000 jobs. Today, it employs nearly 9,000 workers and contributes to thousands of jobs with 270 North American suppliers, including more than 40 in South Carolina.
BMW Manufacturing produces 1,400 vehicles a day and is on track to produce 450,000 vehicles a year.
Spartanburg County Councilman David Britt estimated that BMW has invested nearly $16 billion in the county and created more than 45,000 new jobs that include over 120 international companies – 38 of those are German-owned firms.
More than 70 percent of BMW’s Spartanburg-made cars are exported to more than 140 world markets, company officials said.
The Greer plant produces BMW’s X3, X4, X5 and X6 sport activity vehicles and coupes, including the plug-in hybrid X5xDrive-40e plug-in hybrid. It will soon begin producing the new seven-seat X7 model, followed by the eventual production of self-driving and all-electric vehicles, officials have said.
Later this year, BMW will complete the second phase of a $1 billion expansion that includes a new 1.2 million-square-foot body shop with robots handling 99 percent of the work, officials said.
This story was originally published June 26, 2017 at 10:59 AM with the headline "BMW to invest $600M, create another 1,000 jobs in SC."