BMW Manufacturing passes production milestone.

BMW has made 5 million vehicles in Spartanburg County.

The milestone U.S.-made BMW is a red X5 M Competition equipped with a 617-horsepower M TwinPower Turbo V-8 engine, according to a news release. It was completed June 5 and will remain at the factory to become part of the BMW history collection. Others in the collection include the first car made at the plant.

"You cannot be successful in business if you do not have great products and great people," Knudt Flor, president and CEO of BMW Manufacturing, said in the news release. "This BMW X5 M Competition is a symbol of the success of our products and the commitment and dedication of our associates and supplier network. Every BMW X5 in the world comes from Plant Spartanburg. We are proud to call South Carolina home."

More than half of the BMW vehicles sold in the United States are built at Plant Spartanburg, according to Bernhard Kuhnt, president and CEO of BMW of North America.

"We cannot overstate the importance of Plant Spartanburg to our sales network," he said in the news release. "BMW Group has long considered the United States to be our second home and we are proud to say that the U.S. is in fact home to the biggest BMW plant in the world. We congratulate our colleagues on this historic achievement."

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