BMW Manufacturing Achieves Record Production Year.

South Carolina Plant Produces 411,171 X Models.

Spartanburg, S.C. For the third consecutive year, BMW Manufacturing recorded its largest annual production, producing 411,171  during 2016. This production record confirms the South Carolina plant will remain the largest plant by volume in the BMW Group global production network.  In addition, the plant exported 287,700 vehicles last year – 70 percent of its total production.

“Last year was a very successful year for Plant Spartanburg,” said Knudt Flor, President and CEO of BMW Manufacturing. “Our X models continue to be extremely popular worldwide, and I’m proud of the commitment shown by our team of dedicated associates to deliver premium quality vehicles for our customers.”

2016 marked the second time the South Carolina plant has topped 400,000 units. In 2015, production totaled 400,904 units.  A breakdown of production by model is seen below: 

• X3 – 151,298
• X4 – 56,404
• X5 – 165,377
• X6 – 38,092

Plant Spartanburg welcomes new leader

Last month, Knudt Flor became the seventh president and CEO of BMW Manufacturing. Flor has served 28 years with the BMW Group.  He has worked in a variety of roles within the company and worldwide locations, including four years at Plant Spartanburg as Senior Manager Supplier and Assembly Quality Management.  Most recently, Flor served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Quality for the BMW Group.

“This is a homecoming for me,” Flor said. “I enjoyed my four years in Spartanburg in the late 1990s, and I have been waiting for this opportunity to return.  I’m eager to work with this dedicated team, and I’m excited about the future of this BMW plant.”

$1 Billion investment

BMW Manufacturing will continue construction and installation of tooling around the plant site as it prepares for the future and adds a fifth model to the vehicle line-up – the all-new BMW X7. Construction projects include a new state-of-the-art body shop totaling more than 1.2 million square feet and an expansion of the X5/X6 Assembly hall by 200,000 square feet.  Installation of special tooling and body shop robots will take place during 2017.

BMW began manufacturing vehicles in the United States in 1994 and has since produced more than 3.7 million vehicles for the world. BMW Group has invested more than $7.4 billion in the South Carolina plant.  Currently, BMW Manufacturing produces more than 1,400 vehicles each day and exports 70 percent of its production to 140 countries around the world.

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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