BMW has flipped the switch on series production of its Gen6 high-voltage batteries in the United States, opening a dedicated battery assembly plant in Woodruff, South Carolina. The cells will feed the nearby Spartanburg vehicle factory, home to models including the BMW iX5. The milestone lands just as the group is wrestling with a separate, far less welcome piece of news: a recall covering roughly 721,000 vehicles in the U.S.
A Recall That Reaches Hundreds of Thousands of Owners
BMW of North America is calling back the vehicles over a possible short-circuit and fire risk tied to the electrical water pump connector. The NHTSA has advised owners to park affected cars outdoors and away from buildings until the fix is carried out. The recall adds a fresh reputational and logistical headache at a moment when BMW is already steering through softer profitability.
Two Suppliers, Two Regions
Days before the Woodruff opening, on 9 November, BMW lined up extra Gen6 cell supply through Samsung SDI and LG Energy Solution. Samsung SDI will cover Europe from its existing plants, while LG Energy Solution is earmarked for the U.S. down the road. Deliveries from these regional facilities are slated to begin from the late 2020s. The arrangement splits the sourcing map cleanly between the two regions, giving BMW distinct suppliers on each side of the Atlantic.
Margins Under Pressure
The battery and recall headlines sit alongside third-quarter 2026 figures published on 4 November that show earnings losing ground. BMW booked revenue of EUR 30.5 billion for the quarter, with pre-tax group profit of EUR 2.08 billion — a 10.6% slide from a year earlier. The automotive segment’s EBIT margin came in at 3.4%, which, according to Reuters, still beat the 3.1% analysts had penciled in.
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That beat, however, comes as BMW accelerates portfolio and restructuring measures. By the company’s own account, the extra earnings impact from these steps will weigh on the automotive division in the fourth quarter. For the full 2026 financial year, BMW now guides the segment’s EBIT margin to a range of minus 0.5% to plus 0.5%. Free cash flow in the automotive segment is still expected to exceed EUR 2.5 billion.
Production Interruptions Add to the Friction
The margin story is compounded by short-term shortages of externally sourced components, which forced shift cancellations at BMW. According to dpa, the Regensburg, Leipzig and Oxford plants were affected on Tuesday. It is a reminder that even as BMW brings its own battery assembly online in South Carolina, its wider supply chain remains exposed to the kind of parts gaps that can idle a line without warning.
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