Volcanic ash cloud could halt U.S. BMW production

The recent volcanic activity of Eyjafjalajokull filled the skies around Iceland and Europe with a huge ash cloud that could halt production of BMW automobiles at the US company’s factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina, reports AutoNews.com. If trans-Atlantic flights continue to be delayed for two additional days, says BMW spokesman Mathias Schmidt, the German automaker could be unable to supply the necessary transmissions to assemble X5 and X6 sport uti! lity vehicles.

Think BMW is hurting because of the ash cloud?

If you think BMW’s bottom line would hurt a production layoff, imagine exactly what the ash clouds from Eyjafjalajokull are possibly doing to the airline industry and what a possible Hekla eruption might do. As outlined by the BBC, the International Air Transport Association finds that airlines are losing around $ 300 million per day total due to flights canceled because of the ash cloud. Billions of dollars can be lost if this continues for weeks. 63,000 flights were canceled since the eruption chain began on April 14. If the BMW plant in Spartanburg were to shut down, the business would be losing out on the production of about 600 automobiles per day, split between the X5 and X6 (numbers estimated by BMW). A press trip to a BMW factory in Shenyang, China was also called off because of restricted air travel.

In 2010, The US has been good to BMW

According to Bloomberg, the U.S. was BMW’s biggest market in the first two months of 2010, so shutting down X5 and X6 production will certainly be noticed. The X5 line is considered to be BMW’s “luxury SUV” class. Variants include the X5 xDrive30i, xDrive48i and turbo diesel xDrive35d. The X6 line is the “first ever sports activity coupe,” according to BMW. Model production affected by the ash cloud would consist of the ActiveHybrid X6, X6 xDrive35i and X6 xDrive50i.