Record Production Year for BMW Manufacturing in SC

Cars roll off the Spartanburg, SC Assembly line

BMW SUVs roll off the Spartanburg, SC Assembly line

During its 25th year of production, BMW Manufacturing set a new production record with a total of 411,620 X models produced in 2019, topping the previous record by 449 units (411,171 in 2016). This confirms the South Carolina plant will remain the largest plant by volume in the BMW Group’s global production network. 2019 marked the third time BMW Plant Spartanburg has topped the 400,000 mark (2015: 400,904 and 2016: 411,171). A breakdown of 2019 production by model is below:

BMW X3: 115,088
BMW X4: 65,557
BMW X5: 161,096
BMW X6: 17,260
BMW X7: 52,619

Since 2017, the Spartanburg plant has launched five BMW X models, four Motorsport X models and two electrified vehicles:

August 2017 – third-generation BMW X3
April 2018 – second-generation BMW X4
August 2018 – fourth-generation BMW X5
December 2018 – first-ever BMW X7
April 2019 – first-ever BMW X3 M and X4 M
August 2019 – third-generation BMW X6 and second-generation BMW X5 plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (xDrive45e)
December 2019 – third-generation BMW X5 M and X6 M, first-ever BMW X3 plug-in hybrid electric (xDrive30e)

“The past three years have been among the most challenging in the history of Plant Spartanburg," said Knudt Flor, president and CEO of BMW Manufacturing. “I’m proud of the commitment by our team of dedicated associates to deliver premium quality vehicles for our customers. Our plant’s model portfolio is fresh and popular around the world."

BMW Manufacturing has contributed significantly to the company’s U.S. sales success. Last year, 159,277 X models produced at Plant Spartanburg were sold in the United States, 49 percent of all BMW brand U.S. sales. The top two BMWs sold in America were the BMW X3 and BMW X5.

Since 1994, BMW has produced over 4.8 million BMWs in the U.S. and invested more than $10.6 billion USD in Plant Spartanburg. The Spartanburg plant currently produces more than 1,500 vehicles each day, exporting about 70 percent of these models to more than 125 global markets. The factory has a production capacity of 450,000 vehicles and employs more than 11,000 people.