BMW to move all the X’s to Spartanburg

While cutting jobs in Germany, BMW will cash out $750 million to build 90,000 more vehicles in the U.S. BMW said this morning that it will hire about 500 more employees for its Spartanburg plant in South Carolina in order to increase production capacity to 240,000 vehicles a year.

The move will eventually put all the BMW X’s production in Spartanburg within the next four years, moving the Z4 production out of the plant and over to Europe.

“Centralizing our know-how for BMW X models in Spartanburg will enable us to work more efficiently, thus supporting our long-range corporate strategy,” said board member Frank-Peter Arndt. “In addition, it was a logical step for the BMW Group as a global player to increase production capacity in its largest market.”

In 2007, BMW sold 58,089 X5 and X3 models in the United States, an 8.9 percent increase in a market that declined for the industry as a whole.

 

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

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