BMW has completed a US$1.7bn investment in its South Carolina manufacturing operations, finishing the expansion of its main plant in Spartanburg and the construction of a new facility in Woodruff. The milestone is tied directly to the automaker’s electrification ambitions in the US; at the launch event, Board Chairman Milan Nedeljković confirmed the iX5 would serve as the first battery-electric BMW to be assembled locally, with production beginning later in 2026.

The two plants form an integrated network: Spartanburg handles the assembly of X-series models, while Woodruff produces high-voltage battery packs to supply it. By 2030, BMW claims that at least six fully electric models will be assembled in the US. The launch event also featured the world premiere of the fifth-generation X5, which will become the first BMW vehicle offered across five drivetrain options—internal combustion engine (ICE), battery-electric, plug-in hybrid (PHEV), diesel and, in due course, hydrogen fuel cell.

Despite BMW’s distinctly German heritage, Spartanburg is its largest plant globally; it is also the most internationally exposed. Around half of its annual output—some 412,799 vehicles in 2025—is exported to approximately 120 countries, making BMW the leading automotive exporter from the US by value. To date, nearly three million vehicles, cumulatively worth more than US$113bn, have left South Carolina bound for overseas markets, a figure that frames the investment as much as a trade position as a manufacturing one.

The flexible multi-powertrain strategy underpinning that investment has ultimately proven a point of competitive distinction for BMW. Elsewhere in the US auto industry, electric vehicle (EV)-related writedowns have become both commonplace and punishing: GM recorded US$6bn in EV-related charges in 2025 and concurrently pulled back its electrification targets; Ford’s scaled-back EV plans and discontinuation of the F-150 Lightning led to a US$19.5bn writedown; Stellantis reported a net loss of approximately €22bn (US$24.2bn) last year, driven by around €25bn in charges that included the scrapping of European gigafactory projects. 

By contrast BMW’s multi-pathway strategy, which allows Spartanburg to adjust its ratios of ICE, hybrid and electric output without retooling, has effectively insulated it from that cycle entirely. US PHEV sales have been a particular beneficiary, rising 30.7% as buyer preferences shifted toward partially-electrified vehicles that retain a gasoline option.

“Our strategic course remains unchanged,” Nedeljković drove home during the launch event. “We will continue to pursue the same technology-open strategy that has made BMW successful.” The new X5, by all impressions, is the most direct expression of that strategy to date: assembling ICE, PHEV, EV, diesel and eventually fuel cell variants on a single line at Spartanburg is a production feat that no other plant in BMW’s global network currently replicates.

Digitalisation and AI are woven into both facilities as part of BMW’s broader iFactory programme. Spartanburg is deploying humanoid robots from Figure AI for repetitive and physically demanding tasks, while the group’s AIQX platform applies sensor and camera-based AI quality controls along the production line in real time. At Woodruff, a cell-to-pack assembly process eliminates the cell-coating and module-production stages previously required, reducing complexity in the battery manufacturing sequence.

With US tariff conditions and bilateral trade terms in flux—the European Parliament voted on 16 June to approve cuts to duties on many US goods imports—a domestic manufacturing base of this scale also provides BMW with a degree of insulation against the policy volatility that continues to complicate planning horizons for import-dependent competitors.