BMW Spartanburg Plant Set to Produce New X5

Warning: foreach() argument must be of type array|object, bool given in /home/mexiconow/public_html/sites/mexiconow/wp-content/themes/mexiconowwpnew/single.php on line 176

The BMW Group finalized a $1.7 billion investment in its South Carolina operations, preparing the manufacturing facility for the debut of the fifth generation of the X5.

The iconic SUV, a benchmark in the premium midsize SUV segment, will debut in the second half of the year with a wide range of powertrain options, including the iX5, an all-electric variant that will become the brand’s first zero-emissions model produced on U.S. soil.

Assembled at the Spartanburg plant for more than 25 years, the BMW X5 has established itself as one of the Bavarian automaker’s most successful products, with more than 3 million units sold globally since 1999—a third of them in the United States alone.

Given its significance, the fifth generation will be the first vehicle offered with five different powertrain technologies: internal combustion, battery electric, plug-in hybrid, diesel, and, coming soon, hydrogen fuel cell electric.

And Spartanburg will be the first facility in the BMW Group’s global production network capable of assembling a single vehicle with five different powertrain technologies on the same assembly line.

For Sebastian Mackensen, President and CEO of BMW North America, the new BMW X5 demonstrates “our conviction that innovation and customer choice go hand in hand.”

“Our customers, both in the United States and around the world, will enjoy the new BMW X5, and our open-technology approach allows them to fully enjoy the performance and premium experience that characterize BMW, regardless of the powertrain technology they choose,” he added.

The new investment solidifies the Spartanburg complex—founded more than three decades ago—as the group’s largest plant worldwide, whose annual capacity of 400,000 units has been exceeded for the past seven years, most notably last year by 12,799 vehicles.

Since 1994, the facility has assembled more than 7.3 million vehicles for customers in the United States and the rest of the world. Currently, about half of its production is exported to nearly 120 countries.

To date, BMW has exported nearly 3 million vehicles from the United States, with a value exceeding 113,000 mdd, making the Bavarian automaker the leading exporter of automobiles from the United States in terms of value.