For the seventh year in a row, the BMW Group is the largest automobile exporter in the United States. In 2020, the BMW plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, exported 218,820 new cars abroad, with a total value of over $ 8.9 billion. The factory produced 361,365 new cars last year, of which around 218,000 were born in the second half of the year. This is a new half-year record in the history of the plant.
“The fact that we are once again the number one car export company in the United States is a direct result of the commitment and unwavering enthusiasm of the Spartanburg plant employees to face the ordeals of the 2020 production year,” said Milan Nedilikovic. , BMW AG Production Director. “Despite the difficult conditions caused by the Coronavirus epidemic, the plant was able to set a new production record for half a year that not only confirms the attractive varieties in our model range, but also the exemplary flexibility and outstanding performance of our production network,” he added.
Record born plug-in hybrid production
The hybrid powertrain version of the two most popular models at the Spartanburg plant also celebrated a production record in 2020. The BMW X3 xDrive30e and BMW X5 xDrive45e reached new highs last year with around 23,000 units and 24,000 units respectively, accounting for 13 percent of Factory production volume for the whole year, thanks in part to the expansion of the battery assembly plant in 2019. In Spartanburg, the 2015 BMW Group will produce high-voltage batteries for mains models.
China is the largest destination
The five largest export markets for the Bavarian premium Spartanburg are China (23.3 percent of total annual exports), Germany (12.9 percent), South Korea (7.8 percent), Canada (6 percent) and Russia (5.3 percent)). . The plant will mainly ship the new cars from the Port of Charleston (and thus over 189,000 new cars per year) and five other Southeastern ports to the destination. More than 13,000 new cars arrive abroad by rail.
The facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina has been part of the BMW Group’s international manufacturing network since 1994. About 1,500 new cars are launched at the plant every day, more than two-thirds of which are exporting BMW to 125 countries around the world. The factory includes five members of the BMW X model family (BMW X3, BMW X4, BMW X5, BMW X6 and BMW X7), four BMW M models (BMW X3 M, BMW X4 M, BMW X5 M and BMW X6 M) and Gaban. The BMW X model (BMW X3 xDrive30e and BMW X5 xDrive45e) is available with hybrid powertrain. The facility employs more than 11,000 people and can produce up to 450,000 new cars annually.
