On September viii, 1994, the first US made BMW 318i rolled off the line in Spartanburg, SC. Today, 15 years to the solar day later, BMW Manufacturing's 1.five millionth vehicle rolled off the line to celebrate xv years of manufacturing excellence.

The1.5 millionth vehicle, driven in the ceremony by Associate Eileen Huffman, is a 2009 Monaco Bluish BMW X6 xDrive 35i with oyster interior. The vehicle is right-manus drive and has been ordered by a customer in Hong Kong.

In add-on to remarks past South Carolina'southward Secretarial assistant of Commerce, Joe Taylor; Sky Foster and Ryan Childers, the BMW assembly that presented the Spartanburg factory'southward kickoff vehicle to the world in September 1994 also reflected on their 15 years with BMW Manufacturing.

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"Today'due south events stand for a significant milestone for BMW, emphasizing both BMW's commitment to the United states market and its confidence in the future," stated Josef Kerscher, President of BMW Manufacturing. "We are very proud of the positive bear on this BMW plant has delivered for this area and the quality of the vehicles that our associates produce for world markets each day."

BMW appear their plans to build the outset mill outside of Germany in June of 1992. Construction on the establish began in 1993 and the first vehicle rolled off the line in September 1994. Since then, BMW has produced 5 dissimilar vehicles and their variants, the BMW 318i, the Z3 and Z4 roadsters, the BMW X5 Sports Activity Vehicle and the X6 Sports Action Coupe. BMW has expanded the plant 5 times, including the current $750 one thousand thousand expansion to add 1.5 1000000 square feet. Following this nigh recent expansion, the establish will be 4.0 million foursquare feet.

To date, BMW has invested $4.2 billion in South Carolina and employs about v,000 people including contractors at the found. According to the University of Due south Carolina's Moore School of Business, who conducted an economical impact report on the plant in 2008, BMW'southward South Carolina factory supports 23,050 jobs and generates $1.2 billion in wages and salaries annually within the state. In addition, the total economic output associated with BMW'south almanac economical activities is more than $8.8 billion in South Carolina.

Other significant milestones in the plant's history include:
* Landfill Methane Gas Program – originally launched in 2003, infrastructure was installed at the nearby Palmetto landfill to collect, make clean and compress methane gas and transport it through a 9.5 mile pipeline to the BMW institute. In 2009, BMW replaced the original iv turbines with 2 new highly efficient turbines. The new turbines will increment the electrical output from fourteen% upwardly to nigh xxx%. Currently, over lx% of the plant's total energy requirements are provided by methane gas.

* Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) – In 2003, BMW pledged $ten one thousand thousand to Clemson to endow professorships in the graduate automotive applied science program and nether the Research Centers of Excellence Human action, the state of South Carolina matched the pledge, generating $twenty million for the school. In keeping with BMW'southward original vision, the inquiry and development existence carried out at CU-ICAR today is laying the foundation for tomorrow's next large discovery.

* The BMW Charity Pro-Am golf tournament – now headed into its 10th yr, has raised more than $7.three million for over 125 Upstate and Western NC charities

Equally BMW Manufacturing looks to the future, the plant in Spartanburg will brainstorm product of the BMW ActiveHybrid X6, BMW's first hybrid vehicle, afterward this year and finalization of the $750 meg expansion to build the next generation BMW X3 is well underway. BMW in Spartanburg, SC currently employs five,000 people including contractors and produces 500-600 vehicles per 24-hour interval.

[Source: BMW ]