BMW Tracking for California Growth

THERMAL, CA – Since opening the Performance Center near its plant in Spartanburg, SC, 15 years ago, BMW has taught 130,000 people to be better drivers, including many customers taking delivery of newly built BMWs.

But 30% of its customers live west of the Rocky Mountains – most of them in Southern California – so the automaker for many years has wanted a similar facility catering to the West Coast.

Later this year, BMW will open its Performance Center West driving school here near Palm Springs at a new private race track that intends to be an exclusive country club for gearheads rather than golfers.

The Thermal Club, still under construction, is a members-only circuit that measures 4.5 miles (7.2 km) and can be split into three separate loops. Surrounding the tracks are 300 parcels for private homes.

Members join by invitation only and then must purchase land for home construction, says Tony Renaud, Thermal Club president. Each home must be finished within five years. Clearly geared for car collectors, each home will have a garage that can fit about 10 vehicles.

Several homes are under construction currently, some priced at about $1.8 million, Renaud says.

The Thermal Club occupies 344 acres (139 ha) in the desert-hot Coachella Valley, and the newly announced BMW facility will use 32 of those acres (13 ha) for an education center, skidpad, massive driving pad and a 1.4-mile (2.2-km) road course. Earthmovers are grading the plot now.

At its center, BMW will run its M Schools and Teen Driving Schools.

Peter Miles, BMW of North America’s vice president-Sales Channel Development and Customer Relations, says the Performance Center is an ideal way to connect with car enthusiasts who may end up as loyal customers.

At the Spartanburg facility, he says about half of the “students” are BMW owners. Miles says his two children, now 18 and 20, attended a Teen Driving School in Spartanburg and learned plenty.

Young Students Pay Attention

“We can tell kids what they should and shouldn’t do – it’s like talking to a wall at times,” he tells journalists during a BMW driving event here at the Thermal Club. But his kids paid attention to trained professionals at the course.

“What they came away with was an education that stays with them. They turn the phone off so they’re not getting texts. They adjust the seat and mirrors and put hands on the wheel to make sure they are set up correctly,” Miles says. “None of these things would they listen to when I told them, all of which they listened to when they went through the training in Spartanburg.”

Miles says the South Carolina facility had reached capacity and could not accommodate any additional students or customer-outreach programs. Some 1,500 people visit the BMW Performance Center in Spartanburg every week.

The new contract at the Thermal Club will extend at least 10 years, he says.

Renaud says the club, nicknamed “private pavement” and owned by Tim and Twanna Rogers, is ideally situated within a 4.5-hour drive for 35 million people living in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Diego.

“We are one of the largest car and exotic-car markets in the world,” he says. “We are located in arguably one of the most desirable resort destinations anywhere.” An adjacent private airport has a runway measuring 8,500 ft. (2,591 m), allowing it to accommodate any size aircraft.

Thermal Club membership will be capped at 500, and each membership will extend to direct relations (parents and children), he says.

“We’re about being very inclusive of families,” Renaud says. For those less interested in motorsports, the club will offer a spa, tennis courts, children’s center, world-class culinary services, trackside garages and a “clubhouse featuring the finest” in finishes and fixtures.

“We want to deliver a memorable experience for every one of our members and their families and guests every time they set foot on the property,” he says.

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