BMW considers U.S. powertrain production

Posted Mon Sep 24 2007 7:18 AM by Ralph Hanson

BMW has enjoyed great success with the production of vehicles in the U.S., so much so that it plans to lift current production levels at its Spartanburg site from 140,000 vehicles a year to roughly 230,000. The depreciating U.S. dollar against the Euro makes it more cost effective for BMW to produce the cars it plans to sell in America, locally. These same gains can be repeated if BMW also manufactured its powertrains Stateside as well.

The carmaker’s North American CEO Tom Purves has revealed that U.S. production of its powertrains is under consideration, however, he also emphasized that it’s still “a long way off.”

By 2010, BMW plans to build three vehicles Stateside, the next-gen X3, X5 SUV and the X6 crossover (pictured), so to Purves it simply makes sense to build the powertrains locally. According to Automotive News, most carmakers localize engine production if vehicle numbers fall roughly between 200,000 and 250,000 units per year.

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