Automobile Industry: Billion-dollar BMW expansion drives commerce in South Carolina – by Tyrone Richardson

The electric BMW i3

BMW has been dubbed a major economic engine for South Carolina, ushering in dozens of new manufacturers and bolstering the amount of cargo flowing through the Port of Charleston.

And now the German luxury carmaker has plans to expand production and create 800 more jobs at its Spartanburg County campus by adding the new X7 crossover model to its lineup of South Carolina-made vehicles, a plan that will likely do even more for the state.

"BMW is a big creator," said Doug Woodward, research economist at the University's South Carolina's Moore School of Business. "In addition to the jobs it creates, the company contributes to our tax base, and if you look at the Upstate, it has meant major growth in education too."

Woodward is writing a detailed report that will analyze how BMW impacts South Carolina; he expects it to be released later this year.

A recently updated fact sheet by the Moore School of Business said BMW Group has a $16.6 billion annual impact on the state economy, supporting more than 30,000 jobs throughout the state.

The document also concluded that with every job created at the BMW plant, an additional three jobs are created elsewhere in South Carolina through the economic multiplier effect.

The Munich-based company opened its campus in Greer 20 years ago this fall.

Read more: Billion-dollar BMW expansion drives commerce in South Carolina – The Post and Courier

European Aircraft Industry: Airbus sharklets certified on time with better fuel figures

A320 with Sharklets

Airbus said overnight that it had achieved better fuel savings from the A320  ‘sharklet’ wing tips in their initial certification program than it had set as its goal, which was the result it had to get to keep its customers satisfied.

In fact the 4% reduction in fuel burn it says the devices have achieved is around double the benefit first mentioned to the aviation industry some years ago when Airbus broke the news that it was thinking of refining its A320 family for one last hurrah rather than moving to an all new 150-250 passenger series of jets to replace the current line-up.

It was at the time, a decision that was resisted by Boeing, which stuck to its view that what was required was an immediate shift to an all new concept, until Airbus began selling so many of what it called its NEO or new engine option A320s that it had to come out with its 737 MAX series, which is due for first deliveries late in 2017, two years behind the first of the revised and refined A320s.

Read more: Airbus sharklets certified on time with better fuel figures | Plane Talking