BMW completes $1.7B Woodruff EV battery plant

For a few moments on Tuesday, the BMW production line that has produced more than 7 million vehicles stopped moving while nearby employees and some 200 visitors watched a different kind of production.

With dramatic lights and sound, recorded and live music, a sort of rolling catwalk by a selection of vehicles made at the plant over the years, BMW Manufacturing made a series of announcements — the sexiest of them, perhaps, was the introduction of the fifth generation BMW X5, while the most impactful of them, perhaps, was announcing the completion of a new plant in Woodruff.

The BMW said the $1.7 billion investment is complete in its Woodruff operations, a new plant that will produce high-voltage EV batteries.

The company celebrated the milestone at a “Home of X” event at BMW Group Plant Spartanburg, where the new BMW X5 was the star of the show. The new X5 will be the first fully electric BMW assembled in the United States, staring later this year, and the line also will include models powered by diesel, gasoline and hydrogen, as well as a hybrid model.

The company also announced completed of the latest expansion at Plant Spartanburg in Greer, where more than 11,000 workers play a role in assembling various X models. The additional space is to accommodate assembly of the electric X5. The company commemorated the occasion by dedicating a new “X “sculpture in front of the Zentrum, the highly visible horseshoe-shaped building seen from Interstate 85.

“When we announced our investment plans for South Carolina in 2022, we made a clear commitment to the future of the BMW Group in the United States,” said Milan Nedeljković, chairman of the Board of Management, BMW AG. “Today, we are delivering on that commitment. The completion of our investments in Plant Spartanburg and Plant Woodruff demonstrates our confidence in the United States and reinforces South Carolina’s role at the center of BMW Group’s global operations.”

BMW officials said Home of X recognizes the significant role the United States plays in BMW Group’s global operations. South Carolina is the home of BMW Group’s largest plant worldwide. Plant Spartanburg is the leading exporter of automobiles, when measured in dollars, in the United States and has been for a decade.

Today, BMW Group’s business activities in the U.S. support more than 120,000 jobs nationwide and contribute more than $43.3 billion annually to the U.S. economy, Nedeljković told a crowd that included a large and international contingent of automotive journalists.

The company introduced the new X5 by rolling through the main assembly hall where guests were seated in bleachers, with a succession of past models, including the first car assembled at the Spartanburg County plant. Five examples of the latest model then made a dramatic, choreographic and surprisingly high-speed entrance, coming to stop in front of guests that included Gov. Henry McMaster and Sen. Lindsey Graham.

The X5 established the premium Sports Utility Vehicle segment, the company says, and became one of the most successful products in BMW history. Since 1999, over 3 million BMW X5 models have been sold around the world, a third of which were sold in the United States.

Assembled at Plant Spartanburg for over 25 years, the new BMW X5 becomes the first vehicle offered with five drivetrain technologies.

“The future of BMW X models will continue to be shaped in South Carolina,” said Robert Engelhorn, president and CEO of BMW Manufacturing Co. “From highly efficient combustion engines and plug-in hybrid systems to battery-electric and future hydrogen-powered vehicles, Plant Spartanburg will be able to assemble a broad range of drivetrain technologies for customers in the U.S. and around the world. This flexibility of Plant Spartanburg and our global production network strengthens our resilience, supports customer choice, and enables us to meet customer demand at any level.”

Together, Plant Spartanburg and Plant Woodruff form a highly integrated network supporting the future of BMW X model assembly and electrification in the United States, the company says.

The company is branding Plant Spartanburg as Home of X, which BMW says recognizes the significant role the United States plays in BMW Group’s global operations. South Carolina is the home of BMW Group’s largest plant worldwide.

For more than 50 years, BMW has maintained a strong commitment in the United States, growing its presence to nearly 30 locations across 12 states, according to a news release. Today, BMW Group’s business activities in the U.S. support more than 120,000 jobs nationwide and contribute more than $43.3 billion annually to the U.S. economy.

Established more than three decades ago, BMW Group Plant Spartanburg is the global center of competence for BMW X models. Since 1994, more than 7.3 million BMW vehicles have been assembled in South Carolina for customers in the United States and around the world, the release stated. In 2025, 412,799 BMW X models were assembled at Plant Spartanburg —the seventh time the plant has exceeded 400,000 units.

Approximately half of the plant’s current production is exported to nearly 120 countries, helping to make BMW the leading automotive exporter in the United States by value. To date, nearly 3 million BMWs have been exported from the United States, valued at over $113 billion.

Together, Plant Spartanburg and Plant Woodruff will enable the assembly of the next generation of BMW X vehicles, including fully electric models, while strengthening BMW Group’s ability to serve customers around the world, the company says.

Assembled at Plant Spartanburg for over 25 years, the new BMW X5 becomes the first vehicle offered with five drivetrain technologies.

“Our strategic course remains unchanged. We will continue to pursue the same technology-open strategy that has made BMW successful and will continue to make us successful in the future,” Nedeljković said in the release.

Plant Spartanburg will be the first plant in the BMW Group’s global production network capable of assembling a single vehicle with five different drivetrain technologies on one assembly line.

“The new BMW X5 demonstrates our belief that innovation and customer choice go hand in hand,” Sebastian Mackensen, president and CEO, BMW of North America, said in the release. “Our customers both in the U.S. and around the world will love the new BMW X5 – and our technology-open approach puts them in the driver’s seat to enjoy the performance and premium experience that define BMW, regardless of which drivetrain they choose.”

By 2030, BMW Group will assemble at least six fully electric BMW models in the Upstate, supported by locally assembled high-voltage batteries from Plant Woodruff.