COLUMBIA, S.C. — Former President Donald Trump said foreign automakers are “getting away with murder” by making parts in Germany and assembling them in plants in South Carolina, describing it as something a child could do.

“They say, ‘Oh yes, we’re building cars.’ They don’t build cars. They take ’em out of a box, and they assemble ’em. We could have our child do it,” Trump said during an appearance at the Economic Club of Chicago Tuesday.

Trump did not mention any company by name but South Carolina has only two German automakers — BMW in Spartanburg County and Mercedes Benz Vans in Ladson.

BMW assembles a range of vehicles and Mercedes-Benz makes Sprinter vans.

The reaction across the internet was fast and furious from local Spartanburg residents to nationally known business leaders.

Businessman Mark Cuban said, “He still thinks it’s 1965. It’s obvious he has no idea what it takes to manufacture any advanced product, car or otherwise.”

Betsy Teter, a former business reporter for the Herald Journal and founder of Hub City Writers Project, responded to a post on Facebook, saying, “Pretty much every automotive plant, foreign and domestic, is an assembly plant. The parts come in from suppliers and that’s how they make cars. That’s how they make boats. That’s how they make airplanes. It is a ridiculous statement that this is a job for children. Has he never been in a factory?”

Nathalie Bauters, head of Corporate Communications at BMW Group Plant Spartanburg, responded with statistics: 8 million-square-foot facility, three body shops, two paint shops, two assembly halls., a metal stamping facility for body panels, investment of more than $13 billion, 11,000 highly skilled associates making 1,500 vehicles daily – 400,000 a year — with parts from hundreds of suppliers across the United States.

“Our BMW X models are some of the most complex vehicles in the world, and they are desired by customers everywhere.,” she said. “Plant Spartanburg has been one of the largest automotive exporters by value in the United States for the past 10 years, with an export value of $10.1 billion.

“We export more vehicles from the United States than we import into the country. Plant Spartanburg generates a total economic impact of $26.7 billion to our state while supporting nearly 43,000 jobs and $3.1 billion in wages and salaries.”

She did not specifically mention Trump.

Trump’s statement was initially posted by Kamala Harris’ campaign account.

A German magazine Wirtschaftswoche has also reported that “Trump told French President Emmanuel Macron that he wanted to pursue German carmakers until there are no Mercedes-Benz left driving down New York’s Fifth Avenue.”

BMW Manufacturing opened in Spartanburg County in 1992.

and has since invested nearly $13.3 billion in construction, equipment and other capital expenditures through numerous expansions, its website states.

The company website said BMW Manufacturing regularly uses more than 500 South Carolina suppliers, 90% of which are in the Upstate. A number of its suppliers have opened plants in the area.

Mercedes opened its plant in 2006 and expanded in 2017. It employs about 1,700 people, according to its website.

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