Business briefs | BMW to expand plant, add 300 jobs in S.C.

BMW to expand plant, add 300 jobs in S.C.

COLUMBIA German automaker BMW is adding 300 new jobs at its S.C. plant and making a $900 million investment to expand the site over the next three years.

Company officials said Thursday the move will ramp up production at the plant to at least 300,000 cars this year and introduce a new X4 model.

At an event held at the plant Thursday, the company also celebrated the milestone of 2 million vehicles rolling off its lines since it opened in 1994.

“This site is an essential pillar of our international production,” said Frank-Peter Arndt, BMW's board member responsible for production, speaking during a webcast of the celebration.

Arndt said the move is in response to “the rising global demand for our BMW X models.”

He thanked the South Carolina workers at the plant, and said they had helped the company buck the problems of the current economic downturn. They helped BMW turn aside predictions from others in the automotive industry that the company was making a mistake by investing in the state, and he thanked Gov. Nikki Haley for her support.

Bank president says credit crunch averted

FRANKFURT European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Thursday that the bank has averted a serious credit shortage and there are signs the economy is stabilizing, signaling policy makers may resist cutting interest rates further for now.

“According to some recent survey indicators, there are tentative signs of stabilization of economic activity at low levels,” Draghi said at a press conference in Frankfurt after the ECB kept its benchmark interest rate at 1 percent following two straight reductions. While the debt crisis poses “substantial downside risks” to the economic outlook and the ECB remains “ready to act,” Draghi gave no indication that another rate cut is imminent.

With the euro area on the brink of a second recession in three years, some signs of economic resilience have given the ECB room to assess the impact of its stimulus measures to date, which include lending a record amount of cash to banks. Draghi said those loans prevented a “serious” credit contraction. He also noted that borrowing costs for governments across the 17- nation region have dropped.

Home Depot to hire 70,000 workers

ATLANTA Home improvement retailer Home Depot Inc. said Thursday that it will hire 70,000 seasonal workers for the spring season, its biggest season.

The number is about the same as last year, company spokesman Stephen Holmes said.

From wire reports