Leadership Change at BMW’s South Carolina Plant.

Manfred Erlacher to depart for new role in Germany; Knudt Flor to succeed Erlacher.

Spartanburg, S.C. Manfred Erlacher, who has been President and CEO of BMW Manufacturing in Spartanburg, SC, for three years, will assume new responsibilities as the Managing Director of BMW Plant Regensburg beginning February 1, 2017. Succeeding Erlacher will be Knudt Flor, currently responsible for BMW Group Corporate Quality.  The handover takes place December 1, 2016.

Under Erlacher’s leadership, production at the Spartanburg plant has grown from nearly 300,000 units per year to over 400,000 units per year, making the factory the largest BMW plant in the world by volume. The plant has also achieved several quality awards including the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS) Bronze Award for North and South America (2014), J.D. Power IQS Silver Award for North and South America (2016), J.D. Power IQS Award for the BMW X5 (2016), and the J.D. Power APEAL Award for the BMW X6 (2016). 

The South Carolina plant also launched several vehicles during Erlacher’s three years, including the all-new BMW X4, BMW X3 LCI, second-generation BMW X6, BMW X5 M and X6 M, and the BMW X5 xDrive40e, Spartanburg’s first plug-in hybrid vehicle.

The new president of BMW Manufacturing will be Knudt Flor, a 28-year veteran with the BMW Group. Flor has served in several roles in Quality Assurance and Quality Management within the company.  From 1998 – 2000, he worked at the Spartanburg plant as Quality Assurance of Car Assembly and Purchased Parts.  He has also been Vice President of Production at BMW Plant Munich, Director of BMW Plant Rosslyn in South Africa, and Senior Vice President of Technology at BMW Brilliance Automotive Joint Venture in Shenyang, China.  Most recently, Flor served as Senior Vice President of Quality Management for the BMW Group. 

BMW Plant Spartanburg is currently undergoing a $1 billion expansion that includes construction and tooling of a new 1.2 million square-foot body shop, a 200,000 square-foot expansion of X5/X6 Assembly, and a 100,000 square-foot addition to Logistics. At the end of 2016, production capacity will increase to 450,000 units per year and the plant will have 8,800 jobs on site.

If you have any questions, please contact: Corporate Communications

Sky Foster, Department Manager, Corporate Communications, BMW Manufacturing

Telephone: +1 864-802-5546, sky.foster@bmwmc.com

Steve Wilson, Media Communications Specialist, Corporate Communications, BMW Manufacturing

Telephone: +1 864-802-5346, steve.wilson@bmwmc.com

Website: www.bmwusfactory.com

BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC

BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC is a subsidiary of BMW AG in Munich, Germany, and is the global producer of the BMW X3 and X5 Sports Activity Vehicles and X4 and X6 Sports Activity Coupes. In addition to the South Carolina manufacturing facility, BMW Group North American subsidiaries include sales, marketing, and financial services operations in the United States, Canada and throughout Latin America; and a design firm and technology office in California. For more information on BMW Manufacturing, visit www.bmwusfactory.com.

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BMW Group in America

BMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975.  Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003.  The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, the MINI brand, and the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars; Designworks, a strategic design consultancy based in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country.  BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is part of BMW Group’s global manufacturing network and is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all X5 and X3 Sports Activity Vehicles and X6 and X4 Sports Activity Coupes.  The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 341 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 153 BMW motorcycle retailers, 126 MINI passenger car dealers, and 36 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers.  BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group’s sales headquarters for North America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

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Journalist note: Information about BMW Group and its products in the USA is available to journalists on-line at www.bmwgroupusanews.com and www.press.bmwna.com.

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