Greer plant may become BMW's biggest

By Dick Hughes  

JANUARY 20, 2012 9:17 a.m. (0)

When BMW’s $900-million expansion of its Spartanburg plant is operational, the South Carolina facility will be in position to become BMW’s leading producer of vehicles for the world market.

Last year, it became the German company’s No. 2 plant in volume, and the capacity that will be added is a vote of confidence that the company is committed to aggressive expansion in South Carolina, company officials said.

The company said it will do the work over the next three years to bring capacity to at least 350,000 cars in the mid-term.  Last year, the plant produced 271,065 vehicles, 73 percent more than in 2010.

The expansion will add 300 workers this year to bring the workforce to nearly 7,500 to produce 300,000 cars.  When the added capacity is fully in place sometime in 2014, the workforce will reach 8,000, the company said.

It is BMW’s fourth major expansion of capacity since the plant opened in 1994 with an initial investment of $500 million to give South Carolina BMW’s first assembly line outside Germany.  When the latest additions are complete, BMW will have spent $6 billion on its Greer campus.

From 1.2 million square feet under roof in 1996, the Spartanburg plant today has more than 4 million square feet of buildings.

The company also announced it will build an all-new X4 sports activity vehicle in Spartanburg to add to existing production of the X3, X5 and X6.

The expansion at Greer was announced Jan. 12 in a full-dress presentation that also commemorated the 2 millionth car off the line since the plant opened in late 1994.

The vermillion red metallic X3 was driven onto a platform by Terry Gardner, who has worked in the plant for 16 years. The car will be kept as a museum piece, along with other models used to recognize milestones.

Getting top management to give Spartanburg responsibility for the X4 is a vote of confidence, said Joseph Kerscher, president of BMW manufacturing in North America, at the presentation attended by Gov. Nikki Haley and regional civic leaders and officeholders.

“For nearly 20 years, this team has always proven that steadfast commitment to producing quality vehicles for our customers around the world,” he said.

He said the plant is “a model for the auto industry and even more important is having a great workforce here.”

Last year, BMW became the top-selling luxury car in the United States, replacing Toyota’s Lexus. BMW had sales of 247,907 vehicles in 2011, slightly more than Mercedes-Benz

Details of the new X4 and of the construction that will take place on the 1,150-acre campus were not disclosed.

Frank-Peter Arndt, BMW Group board member responsible for production, made it clear that the company will continue to emphasize use of green technology in the construction and automation of the plant.

In the last five years, Arndt said, the Spartanburg plant has reduced energy use by 48 percent, water consumption by 50 percent, carbon emissions by 44 percent and waste by 65 percent.

In 2011, with global sales boosted by the X3 SUV that exclusively is built in Greer, Spartanburg became BMW’s second largest producer behind its plant in Dingolfing, Germany, the company’s largest, which produced 287,400 vehicles in 2010.