FRANKFURT, May 7 (Reuters) - BMW boss Oliver

Zipse on Wednesday said the premium carmaker was lobbying U.S.

policy-makers both on a local and federal level in the hope of a

softening of current tariff regimes, banking on the firm's large

presence.

"We can already see that this will not be ignored, our large

footprint," Zipse told journalists, citing the group's

Spartanburg plant in South Carolina, its largest worldwide, and

its impact on local jobs and productivity.