Arndt announces X-model family
expansion with BMW X4
Spartanburg/Munich - The BMW Group is
expanding capacity at its U.S. plant in Spartanburg. “We plan to invest
over the next three years nearly USD 900 million in the Spartanburg
plant by 2014. This will create 300 new jobs by the end of this year.
This will allow us to produce 350,000 units in Spartanburg in the mid
term,” says Frank-Peter Arndt, member of the Board of Management of BMW
AG, responsible for Production, in Spartanburg on Thursday. The BMW
Group already invested USD 750 million in the expansion of the plant for
production of the new BMW X3 between 2008 and 2010.
“This is in response to rising global
demand for our BMW X models and the expansion of the BMW X family to
include the BMW X4,” Arndt explains at a ceremony to celebrate
production of the two-millionth vehicle at the BMW plant in South
Carolina since 1994. The move will bring the BMW Group’s total
investment in South Carolina to nearly USD six billion.
The Governor of the State of South
Carolina, Nikki Haley, speaks at the ceremony, saying: “BMW has once
again provided tremendous evidence that South Carolina is a blueprint
for significant economic development success. The partnership between
this company and our State is an enduring example of how to attract,
retain and grow business to stimulate perpetual job creation.”
Production in Spartanburg reached new high
in 2011
Last year, the BMW plant in Spartanburg
produced 276,065 vehicles for more than 130 markets around the world,
representing an increase of 73% over the previous year. The BMW X3 also
played a major role in this positive development. Global sales of this
highly-successful model rose 156% in 2011 to reach a total of 117,944
vehicles.
More than 70% of the vehicles produced in
Spartanburg (192,813) were exported, making the BMW Group the largest
automotive exporter to the non-NAFTA countries.
Four expansions already at U.S. plant
Since it opened in 1994, the BMW plant in
Spartanburg has already undergone four expansions and produced six
different BMW models (318i, Z3, Z4, X5, X6, X3) and their variants.
Employment has grown from 500 initially to more than 7,000 today.
Clean production
BMW’s Spartanburg plant is
state-of-the-art in terms of environmental protection. Advanced
production processes have made vehicle production even more
environmentally-compatible: Over the past five years, it was possible to
lower energy consumption by 48%, halve water consumption, reduce CO2
emissions by 44% and waste by 65% by car. In 2010, for example, the
Spartanburg plant generated almost 62 million kilowatt hours of
electricity from a methane gas energy centre located on the grounds of
the facility and supplied by a local landfill. This accounts for over
37% of the entire plant’s total electrical demand.
USA largest market for BMW Group in 2011
The BMW Group is the leading manufacturer
of premium automobiles in the U.S., the world’s largest market for
premium automobiles. Last year, the BMW Group increased sales of its BMW
and MINI brand vehicles in the U.S. by almost 15% to reach a total of
305,418 vehicles. The American market was therefore the largest market
for the BMW Group in 2011.
