BMW Will Build a New Car at its South Carolina Plant

Luxury auto maker BMW is set to unveil a brand new car later this year that will be built at the company’s South Carolina plant.

This is at least according to Chairman Oliver Zipse who spoke to CNBC.

The South Carolina Spartanburg plant currently produces the BMW X3, X4, X5, X6 and X7 as well as performance models of most of the vehicles.

The new model vehicle will be for the U.S. and global markets..

“At the end of the year, we will make an announcement to build another high-end car from this manufacturing site,” Zipse told CNBC’s Phil LeBeau on “Squawk Box” this week.

“It is not a successor model, it’s a brand-new model, high-end for the American market but also for the world market.”

At the moment the company exports about 70% of the vehicles it produces at the U.S. plant, Zipse said. He declined to disclose other details of the new vehicle.

According to auto intelligence firm LMC Automotive, BMW will begin producing a new crossover called the X8 at the plant starting next year. The vehicle is expected to be a two-row vehicle based off BMW’s current three-row X7.

Zipse said BMW “fully supports” the Biden administration’s goal to have half of the auto industry’s sales be electric vehicles by 2030. He added however that this goal would not be achieved with the current EV charging infrastructure.

“With today’s infrastructure, we will not get there, but of course we have 10 years time to build up together an infrastructure for charging needs, and so on,” he said. “And I think with the infrastructure goals which the Biden administration set, I think there’s a good opportunity to at least come very close to that market.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.