BMW Will Build X4 in South Carolina

SPARTANBURG, South Carolina — BMW announced Thursday it will invest $900 million to expand its U.S. plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, to build the new X4 that's due in 2014.

The compact X4 is seen in Europe as a competitor to the 2013 Porsche Cajun and is being positioned by BMW as a companion to the X3 and a smaller sibling of the sporty X6, with which it will share coupe-like styling cues. The X4 will share powertrains with the X3, including a range of four- and six-cylinder gas and diesel engines.

The investment will boost the plant's annual production capacity to 350,000 units by 2014. BMW previously invested $750 million in Spartanburg between 2008 and 2010 to build the X3. Last year, the plant built 276,065 cars, many of which were shipped to global markets outside the U.S.

The automaker said the latest investment in South Carolina is "in response to rising global demand for our BMW X models and the expansion of the BMW X family to include the BMW X4."

Inside Line says: Since the Spartanburg plant opened nearly 18 years ago, BMW has invested nearly $6 billion to expand and upgrade the facility, in the process assembling a wide variety of models, including the Z3, Z4, X5, X6, X3 and 3 Series.