BMW announced today that the future X1 SUV will be built at its Leipzig plant in Germany, which now assembles up to 700 cars a day. "The exact time point of production start and the market launch of the X1 will be revealed at a later date," the company said in a statement.

The next generation X3 will therefore be built in Spartanburg, along with the larger X5 and X6 premium SUVs, instead of at Magna's contract carmaking unit, where it is currently still being produced.

BMW also announced it plans to invest more than 100 million euros ($155 million) in the Leipzig plant, where it assembles the 3 Series lower-premium sedan and the 3-door, cabriolet and coupe versions of the 1 Series entry premium sedan.

This makes about every eighth BMW brand vehicle a product of the Leipzig plant. The investment will mainly be used for a brand new stamping line expected to go online at the end of 2009.

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