BMW to Invest $1 Billion to Expand Its South Carolina Factory
FRANKFURT — BMW said on Friday that it would invest $1 billion over the next two years in its factory in Spartanburg, S.C., which will become the German carmaker’s largest production site. The expansion will add 800 jobs in Spartanburg and increase the plant’s capacity by 50 percent in 2016, BMW said. In addition, the plant will begin to produce a new, large crossover vehicle. Expansion of the plant had been expected, but BMW did not disclose the scope of its investment until Friday at an event attended by Penny Pritzker, the secretary of commerce for the United States, and Nikki Haley, governor of South Carolina. BMW, based in Munich, said the decision to expand production in Spartanburg reflected the importance of the United States market, the company’s second-largest after China. BMW sold 377,000 vehicles in the United States last year, or 19 percent of the company’s total. “At the BMW Group, we have a golden rule: Production follows the market,” Nor