BMW gets ready to launch new 7-seater SUV

The luxury carmaker, BMW is expected to soon announce its plans of a major expansion of their car manufacturing plant located in Spartanburg, in South Carolina, US. BMW has plans to build its X7, a large crossover vehicle comprising three rows of seats in the same plant. The company is expected to disclose its plans on March 28, 2014.

BMW’s Spartanburg plant was started way back in 1994. Reports suggest that the plant upgrade will cost BMW several hundred million dollars and entail the construction of a third body shop that will produce the SUV, X7. According to plans filed with the Spartanburg country planning office, BMW’s body shop could cover up to 6,75,000 sq.ft of space, and build a new roadway into the factory. This expansion will boost the annual production at the Spartanburg plant to 4,00,000 vehicles, one-third more than its current output.

The production of this new SUV is likely to intensify the competition between BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and the Audi unit of Volkswagen AG for supremacy in luxury automobiles globally. According to reports, BMW and Mercedes-Benz plan to expand their luxury crossover portfolios to seven vehicles each by 2020. In-line with these motoring giants is Volkswagen AG's Audi, planning for six premium crossovers over the same period.

BMW’s global production chief, Harold Kruger confirmed that the March 28 announcement would lay out investment plans for beyond 2014, although he declined to discuss any further details. Addressing a press conference in Munich, Kruger said that BMW spent approximately Rs 5,469 crore on the Spartanburg plant between 2012 and 2014 to make their small SUV, X4. 

According to reports, most of the X7s that will be built in the Spartanburg plant are expected to be sold in the US, while some are also expected to make their way in China, the Middle-East and Europe.