BMW Received Funds from the US Federal Reserve

Just like other carmakers who were desperately looking into ways to boost liquidity during the harshest period of the crisis, BMW had to contact the US authorities to receive financial backing in the country. And the local authorities lent a hand to the German group, completing a transaction of $3.62 billion on January 30, 2009, Bloomberg reported citing the Commercial Paper Funding Facility papers.

Mathias Schmidt, a spokesman for the Munich-based automaker, today stepped in front of the media to explain the reason behind this move, claiming that the money was needed because no other credit sources were available at that time.

BMW used around $750 million to prepare its South Carolina production facility for the new X3. The factory is also building the X5 and the X6, all three models being exported in several countries abroad.

“We tapped into this program in 2008 and 2009 during the financial crisis like other companies,” said Schmidt. “It supported our financial profile and offered us an additional funding source, especially at times when the money markets and capital markets did not function properly and efficiently.”

BMW has until now injected over $4 billion in South Carolina and employs about 5,000 people at the plant. According to an economic impact study on the plant in 2008, the factory supports 23,050 jobs and generates $1.2 billion in wages and salaries annually within the state. Since Spartanburg plant officially opened its doors in September 1994, more than 1.6 million BMW models have been manufactured for customers around the world and total capital investment now amounts to US$ 4.6 billion.