It's no secret that domestic American brands produce the most cars in the United States. After all, the three best-selling cars in America are the Ford F-Series, the Ram pickup, and the Chevrolet Silverado. However, in terms of vehicle exports, it's actually a German brand that has led the way for the past eight years. The brand in question here is BMW.

SUVs are definitely all the rage these days, and while BMW's range wouldn't be complete without their sporty sedans, the X range of SUVs now accounts for more than 50-percent of the brand's sales in the United States.

BMW manufactures the compact X3 and X4, the midsize X5 and X6, as well as the flagship X7 in its Spartanburg, South Carolina plant. 257,876 examples in total were exported to 120 countries around the world. The top five export countries were China (24.1-percent), Germany (12.3-percent), South Korea (9.4-percent), Canada (5.6-percent), and Great Britain (5.4-percent).

The manufacturing plant in Spartanburg was also able to set a production record this year. 433,810 SUVs rolled off the production line, and 179,840 of those were sold locally, which represents 53.4-percent of BMW's U.S. sales. Leading the charge in BMW's U.S. sales is the X3, which is then followed by the X5.

These aren't the only milestones that its American manufacturing plant was able to achieve. Three BMW X models earned the J.D. Power Awards for Initial Quality Study (IQS) and Automotive Performance, Execution, and Layout (APEAL), and we also must mention that production of the BMW XM plug-in hybrid high-performance SUV, which debuted in concept form late last year, is already being prepared.

The Spartanburg plant is also BMW's largest manufacturing facility in the world, as it's capable of producing 1,500 vehicles per day. It is also a sign of evolving consumer interest towards SUVs, as this plant exclusively produces X vehicles, excluding the X1 and X2.