Investment will see BMW body panels pressed locally in the US.

BMW said it would invest $200m to construct a 219,000 square foot press shop at its South Carolina plant.

The investment will create 200 new jobs. The announcement was made by BMW Manufacturing president and CEO Robert Engelhorn at the South Carolina Automotive Summit in Greenville.

The new press shop, which will start production in the summer of 2024, will take raw coils of steel, cut them into blanks, and stamp sheet metal parts for future BMW models. Those components include hang-on parts such as the vehicle’s four doors, fenders, exterior body sides, and liftgate.

“The BMW Group is known worldwide for the outstanding quality produced by its press shops. We are excited to add this new technology to Plant Spartanburg,” said Engelhorn. “This investment reinforces BMW’s commitment in the United States and South Carolina. We continue to play a major role in the region’s economic strength as well as workforce development and job training.”

Press shop jobs include tool and die technicians, electrical and mechanical maintenance for automated machinery, and specialised line operators. Around 45 Spartanburg workers are currently training at group press shops in Leipzig, Germany, and Swindon, England. These people also train with workers from the Schuler Group which makes automated servo press lines for all BMW plants.

Spartanburg’s press line will consist of five press (stamping) stations. The line will be equipped with servo technology which enables a significant increase in output. The press line is capable of running up to 18 strokes per minute. After the parts are stamped, they go to quality control for inspection and are then stacked into racks ready for delivery to the body shop production line.

“Having a press shop onsite is part of BMW’s localisation strategy where we produce our major parts at the location where we need them,” said Engelhorn.

While Schuler will manufacture the automated press line, all tooling for Spartanburg’s press shop will come from BMW shops in Eisenach, Munich, and Dingolfing.

Since 1992, BMW Group has invested $12bn in its South Carolina operations whih now build 1,500 vehicles each day. The plant exports 60% of output to about 120 markets. For eight consecutive years, it has been the largest exporter by value in the US.