The BMW group is set to invest a total of one billion US dollars over four years in the American market. The resources will be channelled towards a new adminstrative and training centre in New Jersey, increasing the sales network and broadening production in the Spartanburg facilities.

These are all strategies that should take advantage of the current weak dollar compared to the euro. Currently the BMW factory in South Carolina assembles about 160,000 vehicles a year, but with the new investment estimates are up arounf 240,000 vehicles by 2012. To the X5 and X6, produced only in the US, the new X3 will be added, currently manufactured in Austria. 500 new jobs should also be created in the new complex.

BMW colonisation of the US doesn’t stop here though: the general headquarters at Woodcliff Lake in New Jersey grew by 60 percent in 2008 with a 100 million dollar investmen. Now about 1,000 staff members work there and another 170 million dollars will be spent by the end of the year for distribution measures in Pennsylvania and Illinois. This should take BMW to six regional distribution centres on US ground. BMW has been steadily growing in this market for the last 16 years: in 2007 alone more than 336,000 vehicles were sold.

BMW US president Ian Robertson has stated that “the investments are a clear sign of our strong trust in the potential of the American economy. We know we need to invest in the biggest market in the world if we want to have success on the world ladder. Despite the current weakness, long term prospects in the US are positive”.

Via | TGcom

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