BMW Manufacturing announced today four new senior management appointments. Included in the new management appointments is the formulation of a new management function to oversee project integration to serve the needs of the plant’s future growth.
Karl Loessl has been appointed Vice President, Body in White. Loessl began his career with BMW nearly 30 years ago as a planner in Plant Munich’s body shop. Since them, Loessl has progressed through various management positions in both the Munich plant, as well as BMW’s plant in Dingolfing, Germany.
Rich Everly has been named Vice President, Paint for the South Carolina factory. Everly was one of the first associates hired in 1994 when BMW announced they would build their first plant outside of Germany. Everly began his BMW career managing the materials planning group, was promoted to manage quality, process and structure planning and, most recently, steered the installation of the plant’s new paint shop, including the ramp up of production and maintenance.
Appointed as the new Vice President of Assembly, Dirk Hilgenberg joins the senior management team from Munich where he was the Head of Assembly Technology for the BMW Group. Prior to this, Hilgenberg managed Global Process IT for the company’s manufacturing division. Hilgenberg began his career with BMW Rolls-Royce Aero Engines and was a part of the re-launch of the MINI Brand in Oxford, England.
Hilgenberg succeeds Richard Morris who served as Vice President of Assembly for the plant since 2009. Morris assumes a new role as Vice President, Project Integration, the company’s newest department that is wholly committed to cross-functional steering and integration.
The South Carolina plant is in the midst of a $1 Billion investment to increase the plant’s capacity by 50% by the end of 2016. The plant will also add a fifth vehicle model, the BMW X7. This increased volume will add another 800 new jobs to the plant’s workforce of 8,000 and make the South Carolina plant the largest BMW Group plant worldwide.
BMW began manufacturing vehicles in the U.S. in 1994 and has produced over 3 million vehicles in the last two decades. Presently, BMW Manufacturing produces over 1,300 vehicles each day and exports 70% to over 140 countries around the world.
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