After announcing plans to invest $1.7 billion in its US operations to build at least six electric vehicles by 2030, BMW is inaugurating its latest facility in South Carolina. The new Vehicle Accessories Center in Greer is now up and running, catering to all 350 dealers nationwide. Almost $25 million have been spent to open the 60,000-square-foot (5,574-square-meter) facility, which has led to the creation of approximately 60 jobs.
As its name implies, the Vehicle Accessories Center will provide OEM accessories varying from body parts and wheels to M Performance Parts and decals. It’ll also supply a host of interior trim pieces and floormats, along with roof accessories and other miscellaneous items. Needless to say, the facility is primarily intended for models built at the nearby Plant Spartanburg where BMW assembles the X3 through X7, with the XM to join the assembly line before the end of the year.
Vehicles ordered with optional accessories will be shipped to dealers with all the extras installed. That means dealer employees won’t have to install the parts anymore. It should translate to quicker delivery times after optimizing the process as BMW will also handle modifying the cars with the upgrades. At the factory in South Carolina, the automaker assembles about 60% of the vehicles it sells in the US.
Since 1992, BMW USA has spent a total of $12 billion in local manufacturing. It produces more than 1,500 vehicles on a daily basis and currently employs approximately 11,000 people. At the end of September, it celebrated an important milestone by assembling the six millionth vehicle in SC, an X6 M finished in Java Green Metallic. 60% of all SUVs built in South Carolina are exported to 120 markets from all over the world. The factory has a maximum annual capacity of 450,000 units.
Later in 2023, the XM Label Red will enter production as BMW’s most powerful production vehicle ever, courtesy of a twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 and an electric motor making a combined 738 hp and 737 lb-ft (1,000 Nm).
Source: BMW
