2011 BMW X3 Production Kicks Off

German carmaker BMW announced it has yesterday ended production of the first generation X3 at the plant of Austrian production partner Magna Steyr in Graz. The new model, which will be launched in the German market on November 20, 2010, will enter production today at the BMW Spartanburg plant in the US state of South Carolina. In Graz alone, BMW has built no less than 605,498 units of the old X3 within a 7 year period of time.

The last vehicle of the first model generation, a Vermilion red metallic BMW X3 xDrive35d, will remain with the Magna Steyr company, where it will be used as an executive car.

The last BMW X3 xDrive20d with full emergency vehicle specifications that left the assembly line shortly before, will be donated by the BMW Group to a non-profit organisation.

“With the model change, the production of the BMW X3 is being relocated to the BMW Spartanburg plant, a facility that has become the expertise centre for BMW X models. So far, the US American location of the BMW Group’s global production network has produced BMW X5 and BMW X6 models,” a company statement reads.

“Thanks to substantial extension work and with an investment of around $750 million, the prerequisites for the production of the new BMW X3 and the associated increase in the annual production capacity to around 200,000 vehicles have been created at Spartanburg.”

The new X3 has grown in size and uses the same design language as the new 5 and 7 series. For Europe, the car will be launched with two engines (a diesel and a petrol), with all the versions of the car coming with four wheel drive as standard. North America also gets the top petrol engine but ditches the diesel in favor of another petrol unit.

Sales are scheduled to debut later this year for the U.S. market and in January for Europe.