BMW is investing $200M to expand its Spartanburg operation, a move that will bring an additional to 200 jobs to the Upstate, BMW Manufacturing Co. President and CEO Robert Engelhorn announced March 2.
The expansion comes in the form of a 219,000-square-foot body panel production facility expected to be online by summer 2024. Engelhorn, who made the announcement during remarks to the SC Automotive Summit at the Hyatt Regency, said the facility will produce doors, fenders, exterior body panels and liftgates.
“We are excited to add this new technology to Plant Spartanburg,” Engelhorn said. “This investment reinforces BMW’s commitment in the United States and South Carolina.”
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster delivered remarks, lauding the progress the state has made in the automotive industry since 1992, when BMW announced they were bringing the first production facility outside Germany to the Upstate. At that point, McMaster said South Carolina had zero automotive jobs. Today, there are 72,000.
“BMW’s presence in South Carolina for nearly three decades has driven the dramatic growth of our automotive industry and paved the way to our state’s global reputation as an automotive powerhouse,” McMaster said.
