BMW Group to invest a billion US dollars in the USA by 2012

Back in March, BMW announced its plan to further expand the Spartanburg plant in South Carolina to the tune of 750 million US dollars. Responsible for the global production of the X3, X5 and X6 models, the expansion would include increase the size of the plant by 60 percent, or 140,000m² to 370,000m² resulting in 160,000 to 240,000 units by the year 2012 as well as 500 new jobs.

However, BMW recently announced a further expansion with 100 million US dollars going towards buildings for sales, engineering and training at the US headquarters in northern New Jersey. A workforce of around 1,000 will be working at the extended site.

At the recent opening of the complex, known as the "BMW of North America Campus", Ian Robertson said: "The investments are a clear sign of our strong belief in the potential of the U.S market. We know that we have to invest in the world's biggest market if we want to be successful on a worldwide scale. The long term market outlook for the U.S is positive - even though the country is navigating through a soft economy today. The U.S will remain by far the leading premium vehicle market in terms of size and impact and we are well prepared to be part of the growth."

Lastly, in an effort to improve the rapid distribution for parts for BMW, MINI and Rolls Royce dealers, BMW will invest an additional 170 million for two new parts distribution centers in Pennsylvania and Illinois bringing the total number of distribution centers in the USA to six.

Credits: