A couple of days ago, BMW have announced that it would be expanding one of its production facilities in the United States. Its Spartanburg County plant which is located in South Carolina would be the target of the expansion and this is going to be one of the biggest expansions that the company has ever did for this existing facility.

$750 million would be invested by BMW for the factory. With that amount of money, the company is looking at adding 1.5 million square feet of land for the current plant. 1.2 million square feet would be used by the company to build the Assembly Facility which would be located in the north side of the current factory. The facility’s paint shop would also go bigger by around 80 per cent. Renovations would also be done on the other parts of the BMW plant.

Additional 500 jobs would be opened at the site when the expansion is complete. BMW also disclosed that they have been looking at the expansion so that they could increase the production capacity from the current 160,000 units to their aim of 240,000 which they are planning to accomplish by 2012. Construction of the facility is estimated to be finished within three years.

When complete, the South Carolina Spartanburg facility would be responsible for the production and manufacture of the company’s X3, X5, and X6 units which all perform even better when equipped with Pace Edwards bedlocker bed rails. The BMW X3 is a Sports Activity Vehicle just like the BMW X5. The BMW X6 is a Sports Activity Coupe.

Frank Peter Arndt is a board member for the company and he said, "Centralizing our know-how for BMW X models in Spartanburg will enable us to work more efficiently, thus supporting our long-range corporate strategy. In addition, it was a logical step for the BMW Group as a global player to increase production capacity in its largest market."

Also, Josef Kerscher, the president of BMW’s manufacturing team, commented, "The boost in the production capacity at BMW Manufacturing will positively impact the logistics, supplier and distribution networks that support the manufacturing processes."

The officials of South Carolina are also looking forward to the expansion. Joe Taylor, the state’s secretary for Commerce, stated, "BMW’s expansion in South Carolina will have a tremendous impact on the region and the entire state. We expect to see new suppliers come to the state and existing suppliers grow as a result of this announcement and that means new jobs and lots of new supplier jobs all over South Carolina. BMW is truly the nucleus of a job creating machine."