BMW announced on Friday, March 20 that it will temporarily shut down its manufacturing facility in Spartanburg due to the outbreak of COVID-19. In a statement, the company said it expected the suspension of production to last a couple of weeks.
“The health and protection of our associates is our top priority,” the statement said. “At the same time, the dynamic development of the [coronavirus] pandemic is having a major impact on the global demand for cars. BMW Manufacturing is taking a flexible approach and adjusting our production volumes accordingly.”
The Spartanburg County plant will stop production on April 3. BMW said it expects the break to last until April 19.
The Spartanburg plant is one of the biggest BMW has around the world. Starting off with a production capacity of 300,000 units, the plant underwent an expansion process taking its capacity up to 450,000.
In 2019, the most popular car build in Spartanburg in 2019 was the BMW X5 with 161,096 units made followed by the X3 with 115,088 units. The X7 also had a great year, with 52,619 units being made in the US plant last year, despite arriving rather late to the party.
The company employs approximately 11,000 workers in the Upstate.
[Source: upstatebusinessjournal]
