Until now, BMW had weathered the crisis more steadily than its competitors, but the company has now surprised markets with a profit warning. In its statement, BMW said ongoing cost reductions would be intensified and accelerated through additional structural and efficiency measures. Their effects will become visible in subsequent years, but will weigh on results as one-off charges in the second half of 2026. One-off costs that save money later – that sounds like job cuts, even if the company does not officially confirm this.
The forecast for headcount – a “slight decline” – means a decrease of one to five percent. With nearly 155,000 employees, that could amount to several thousand jobs. According to informed circles, the expected one-off charges are roughly one billion euros, though it is unclear how much of that will go toward job cuts. Already in 2025, the number of employees fell by around 3,000, mainly in Germany and China.
The main driver of the profit warning is the collapse of the Chinese auto market. The news comes about a month after Milan Nedeljkovic took over the leadership of BMW. Industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer told Tagesspiegel that the profit warning is “surprising and shows that a lot was missed beforehand.” He sees potential savings in the large variety of models and recommends more development in China.
Source: www.tagesspiegel.de
