German carmaker BMW has announced it is adding one thousand new jobs to its manufacturing facilities in South Carolina.
The Spartanburg plant, already the largest BMW facility in the U.S., will grow even larger with the company’s announced $600 million in new investments over the next four years, CNBC reported.
“It’s a great day for us here in Spartanburg and South Carolina and for the BMW group,” BMW chairman Harald Kruger said. “The workforce will be well above 10,000 people, which is, in my view, clearly a symbol of success.”
The improvements will mean that the plant will be able to produce as many as 450,000 new vehicles annually.
Kruger also waved off rumors that the expansion was an effort to placate President Trump who has talked sharply against trade imbalances with Germany.
“There was already planning before [Trump’s election], because we have long-term strategic planning, but also the success of the U.S. market is something that was, for us, important,” Kruger said.
Perhaps to underline the point, BMW is also on track to open a new manufacturing facility in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. The Mexican plant is set for a 2019 debut.
“We explained when I was in Washington with the German chancellor and had the opportunity to talk about our business here in Spartanburg, and the president acknowledged how successful our operation is here in South Carolina,” Kruger concluded. “I could argue and explain that one to the president that our success is based on free trade because we are the biggest net exporter for the United States.”
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