Spartanburg, S.C. BMW Manufacturing announced today that Christine Petrasch has been named the new Vice President of Human Resources.  Petrasch succeeds Johannes Trauth, who has returned to Germany as the Head of HR Services.

Christine Petrasch holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science and started her career as an IT Consultant for Business Solutions working with the BMW Group.  She joined the company in 2000 as the Head of Human Resources Management for the BMW Group, Munich and Plant Regensburg.  In 2011, Petrasch moved to China as the Head of HR Strategy for the BMW – Brilliance Joint Venture in Shenyang/Beijing. She then returned to Munich as the Head of Personnel Management in late 2012 and, most recently, has been the Head of HR Services for the BMW Group.

BMW Manufacturing currently produces 1,400 vehicles each day, exporting 70 percent of these models to 140 global markets. The model portfolio includes the BMW X3, X4, X5 and X6 Sports Activity Vehicles and Coupes (and their variants).  The all-new BMW X7 will debut in late 2018.  Last year (2017), the Spartanburg plant produced 371,284 vehicles.  The factory has a production capacity of 450,000 vehicles and employs 10,000 people.

In June, the BMW Group announced it will invest an additional $600 million in the Spartanburg plant from 2018 through 2021 to support manufacturing infrastructure for future generations of X models.  An additional 1,000 jobs will also be added through 2021.