IIMADE IN SOUTH CAROLINAII
NON STOP GROWTH BMW CONTINUES TO MAKE BIG INVESTMENT IN SOUTH CAROLINA BY TIM WOOD | PHOTOS SUPPLIED
It’s the dream-car purchase for so many. The Ultimate Driving Machine signifies the highest level of sophisticated engineering for autophiles. An achievement once thought to be purely German is manufactured just 235 miles up I-26. BMW made a huge bet on South Carolina in 1992, buying 900 acres of peach orchards in Greer and Spartanburg. Few natives realized the impact the car giant’s first U.S. manufacturing plant would make, even when the first Americanmade BMW 318i rolled off the production line in 1994.
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More than a quarter century later, the company has invested close to $11 billion in the plant, a seven-millionsquare-foot campus that encompasses enough space for 150 football fields. The Spartanburg facility has been at the forefront of BMW Group’s heavy push to make BMW a leader in the evolution of the electric vehicle and has produced most of the vehicles that have made the company the top U.S. auto exporter for seven straight years.
