The third generation of the BMW X3 was unveiled today as part of BMW's announcement of its continued investment – $600 million and more than 1,000 jobs in next four years – at the Greer plant.
When the Greer BMW plant is expanded to 10,000 jobs, it will be larger than the population of cities like Clinton, Laurens, Lexington and Union.
The BMW X3 concept was on the drawing board years ago.
Clay models were shaped into the X3's final design.
CEO Harald Krueger’s announcement Monday in part was in celebrating the German automaker’s 25th year of manufacturing in South Carolina. BMW announced in June 1992 construction of the company’s firs full production facility out of Germany in Greer.
The third generation of the BMW X3 sports-utility vehicle, built in Greer, was also unveiled.
$200 million will be invested over the next five years at the plant for training and education of associates.
The BMW investment in the Upstate is staggering:
• 10,000-plus will be employed at the plant in the four years.
• Greer is the largest BMW plant worldwide
• About 1,400 vehicles are produced daily.
• More than 411,000 units produced in 2016
• 450,000 vehicles will be produced annually with the expansion
• 70 percent of BMWs made here are exported to about 140 countries.
• 287,700 BMW vehicles with a total value of more than $10 billion were exported from Spartanburg
• 86 percent were shipped from the Port of Charleston
• 400 vehicle-manufacturing companies make South Carolina home, employing 66,000 people, according to the state Commerce Department.
"All this shows that the U.S. is clearly our second home,” Krueger said. “I can feel it in my heart."
Krueger said the four-year investment is going toward production of future generations of the plant's X models, that include electrified vehicles, where, today, the plant has produced more than 25,000.
BMW in Greer is the sole producer of the X3, X4, X5 and X5 models, as well as the M models and hybrids. A new X7 is expected to be produced at the plant by late 2019.
"We will keep investing in our people, in our business in the United States," Krueger said. "This underscores our enduring commitment to the people of this great nation and great state.”
Krueger said BMW will roll out a nationwide training program in partnership with local universities and colleges to offer a combination of job training and earning a degree.
When production first started in 1994, the Greer site employed about 570 associates and produced around 28,000 cars within the first year. It takes only 20 days for the plant to produce the same volume that it did in 1994.