BMW Manufacturing passes production milestone

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BMW has made 5 million vehicles in Spartanburg County.

The milestone U.S.-made BMW is a red X5 M Competition equipped with a 617-horsepower M TwinPower Turbo V-8 engine, according to a news release. It was completed June 5 and will remain at the factory to become part of the BMW history collection. Others in the collection include the first car made at the plant.

“You cannot be successful in business if you do not have great products and great people,” Knudt Flor, president and CEO of BMW Manufacturing, said in the news release. “This BMW X5 M Competition is a symbol of the success of our products and the commitment and dedication of our associates and supplier network. Every BMW X5 in the world comes from Plant Spartanburg. We are proud to call South Carolina home.”

More than half of the BMW vehicles sold in the United States are built at Plant Spartanburg, according to Bernhard Kuhnt, president and CEO of BMW of North America.

“We cannot overstate the importance of Plant Spartanburg to our sales network,” he said in the news release. “BMW Group has long considered the United States to be our second home and we are proud to say that the U.S. is in fact home to the biggest BMW plant in the world. We congratulate our colleagues on this historic achievement.”

BMW celebrated 25 years of manufacturing in the Upstate last year, when it built a record 411,620 vehicles. Nearly 70% of the plant’s production was exported from 2010-2019. Last year’s value of exports was $9.6 billion, more than any other U.S. carmaker for the sixth consecutive year, according to the news release. The plant has expanded seven times, with $10.6 billion in investment, and has 11,000 workers on site.

“BMW changed the very fabric of our state’s economy when it decided to locate in South Carolina nearly three decades ago,” Gov. Henry McMaster said in the release. “That this great company built its 5 millionth American-made vehicle in Spartanburg should be a source of great pride for our people and a reason for celebration. It’s one more example of South Carolinians sharing in the success of a company that has become an integral part of our state because of its dedication to our people.”