BMW Plans Major U.S. Production Expansion

BMW AG is expected to announced on March 28 a major expansion of its SUV factory in Spartanburg, S.C., says The Wall Street Journal, which cites unnamed sources.

They say the company plans to add a 675,000-sq-ft body shop at the 20-year-old plant to produce a large luxury crossover vehicle called the X7. The expansion will hike the facility's annual capacity by one-third to 400,000 units.

Harald Kruger, who heads the BMW's global manufacturing, confirms only that the company will announce investment plans on March 28. But points out to the Journal that BMW already makes the X3 and X5 crossovers at Spartanburg and has spent $900 million to add the X4 crossover due this summer.

The X7 will be BMW's first three-row crossover, a model to be sold primarily in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and China. The Spartanburg complex exports about half the vehicles it makes.