BMW Revs Up Spartanburg To The Tune Of $900 Million
Bucolic Spartanburg, SC, will get a new boost when BMW drops $900 million on the plant to expand its capacity to 350,000 units per year. Spartanburg will become one of the world’s largest BMW plants. The BMW Group already invested USD 750 million in the expansion of the plant for production of the new BMW X3 between 2008 and 2010. Now, the plant is being expanded again to make room for the X4.
Last year, the BMW plant in Spartanburg produced 276,065 vehicles for more than 130 markets around the world, an increase of 73 percent over the previous year.
Much to the delight of SC governor Nikki Haley, BMW’s total investment in South Carolina will grow to approximately $6 billion.
Little known factoid: More than 70 percent of the vehicles produced in Spartanburg (192,813) were exported, making the BMW Group the largest automotive exporter to the non-NAFTA countries.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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They are going to build an X4? Say it isn't so...
Wish it was in NC! I'd sure try to get a job there.
Where the hell do you get off calling Spartanburg "Bucolic" (of or pertaining to shepherds; pastoral)? The Census Bureau defines an area urban as "core census block groups or blocks that have a population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile;" Spartanburg's is 2,066.3 as of the 2000 census (last data I can find).
Quite obviously, he has not, not have you. Spartanburg has: A Marriott convention center: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/spamc-spartanburg-marriott-at-renaissance-park/ A cultural center: http://www.chapmanculturalcenter.org/index.php Denny's corporate headquaters: http://www.hoerrschaudt.com/commercial/dennys.php A 952,550 sq ft. mall: http://www.westgate-mall.com/shop/westgate.nsf/index It was also named the 8th most dangerous city in the US: http://www2.wspa.com/news/2011/dec/28/spartanburg-ranked-8th-most-dangerous-city-us-ar-2946929/ None of these are the mark of a farm town. Spartanburg County as a whole has some large rural areas, but he didn't say County and it's also well over 800 sq. miles compared to around 530 sq miles for Mecklenburg (Charlotte) or Fulton (Atlanta) counties. It's not New York or even Tulsa but it's not Mayberry either. It's part suburb of Greenville and also the core of its own MSA. It's definitely not rural. He was writing to his preconceived notions and not any facts. Any website with the word truth in it should contain that and not just what someone dreamed up. Shame on him for doing that and shame on you for suggesting he was right without even beginning to offer any evidence to the contrary.