BMW cuts sales and margin forecast
BMW now expects significantly fewer deliveries and barely any profit in its automotive business in 2026. China and restructuring costs are weighing on the outlook in particular.
BMW has again lowered its full-year forecast after a weak third quarter. For the automotive business, the group now expects an operating margin in 2026 of between minus 0.5 and plus 0.5 percent. BMW had previously expected 1 to 3 percent. The sales outlook is also more cautious: deliveries in the automotive business are expected to fall by 5 to 10 percent, after the company had previously anticipated a decline of up to 5 percent. The share of fully electric vehicles in deliveries is expected to rise slightly, however. The forecast for free cash flow in the automotive business remains unchanged at more than €2.5 billion.
China weighs on the quarter
In the third quarter, net profit fell by 15 percent to €1.45 billion. Revenue declined by 5.8 percent to €30.45 billion, while operating profit before interest and taxes fell by almost 30 percent to €1.59 billion. In the automotive business, the operating margin was 3.4 percent, down from 5.2 percent in the same period last year. BMW pointed, among other factors, to the difficult market environment in China, where sales fell by around a quarter. Gains in Europe and the United States were only able to offset part of the decline; group-wide deliveries fell by 6.3 percent.
Additional costs for a faster corporate restructuring are also weighing on the outlook. BMW plans to phase out older models earlier and streamline the organization more quickly. These measures are intended to strengthen competitiveness and margins in the coming years. BMW is maintaining its expectation of a significant decline in full-year profit before tax; that decline had already been announced in an earlier profit warning.