BMW to cut 8,000 jobs worldwide by 2027 as profits slump

BMW job cuts voluntary redundancy profit decline China sales

BMW announced a plan to eliminate around 8,000 positions globally. The cuts will be carried out through a voluntary redundancy programme aimed at administrative and development staff in Germany, while production workers are exempt. Approximately 40,000 of the 85,000 permanent German employees will be eligible to apply from October 2026, with the process running to the end of 2027.

The restructuring is intended to generate annual cost savings of about €1 billion from 2028 onward and to keep the automotive operating margin between 1 % and 3 % for the year. In the second quarter of 2026 BMW reported a sharp profit decline, with after‑tax earnings of €1.2 billion – a 35 % drop year‑on‑year – and pre‑tax profit of €1.7 billion, also down 35 %. The automotive margin fell to roughly 2.3 %.

The profit weakness is largely attributed to a roughly 30 % fall in sales in China, where competition from domestic electric‑vehicle makers has intensified. BMW’s cost‑cutting move follows similar programmes announced by other German automakers such as Volkswagen, Mercedes‑Benz and Porsche.

Entities: BMW AG · BMW Group · China · German automotive sector · Germany · Jochen Breckner · Martin Kimmich · Milan Nedeljkovic · Walter Mertl

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.

[● 9 SOURCES] BMW will cut around 8,000 jobs worldwide by the end of 2027. (BMW aims to reduce its global workforce by about 8,000 employees by the end of 2027.)
[● 5 SOURCES] BMW's after‑tax profit was €1.2 billion in Q2 2026, a 35 % decline from the previous year. (Second‑quarter 2026 after‑tax profit fell to €1.2 bn, down 35 % YoY.)
[● 5 SOURCES] BMW's pre‑tax profit fell 35 % year‑on‑year to €1.7 billion in Q2 2026. (Second‑quarter 2026 pre‑tax profit declined 35 % to €1.7 bn.)
[● 6 SOURCES] The job cuts will be implemented through a voluntary redundancy programme targeting administration and development staff in Germany, while production workers are exempt. (BMW will use a voluntary redundancy scheme for admin and development staff in Germany; production workers are excluded.)
[● 5 SOURCES] About 40,000 of BMW’s 85,000 permanent employees in Germany will be eligible to apply for the voluntary scheme starting October 2026. (Roughly 40,000 of the 85,000 permanent German staff may apply from October 2026.)
[● 7 SOURCES] BMW's sales in China dropped roughly 30 % in Q2 2026. (Chinese sales fell about 30 % in the second quarter of 2026.)
[● 5 SOURCES] BMW aims to achieve annual cost savings of about €1 billion starting in 2028. (The company targets €1 bn of yearly savings from 2028 onward.)
[● 3 SOURCES] BMW expects its automotive operating margin for the year to be between 1 % and 3 %. (Target automotive margin 1‑3 % for the year.)