BMW moving some Germany production to the Spartanburg plant

In cases where President Donald Trump will make car importation stricter and more expensive in the US, BMW can move some of its Germany production to the Spartanburg plant. CEO Harald Krueger confirmed that this can happen in the near future.

“You can never rule out whether in the future you may manufacture locally something else in addition,” Krueger explained. “The bandwidth of the production system is flexible enough to build other models in the U.S., just as in Germany or China.”

Krueger said it took less than nine months after the decision was made for BMW to re-equip its Dingolfing plant in Germany to produce 3 Series sedans that before had been built in Regensburg and Munich.

“If the production systems are prepped, and when the flexibility is there, you can shift production from one plant [to another] in a reasonable period of time,” he said.

For the third consecutive year, BMW Manufacturing recorded its largest annual production, producing 411,171 X models 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.