BMW planning cutbacks amid warning that profits will be ‘well below’ last year

GERMAN carmaker BMW has said profits for this year will be “well below” last year’s and it plans to cut €12bn (£10.3bn) in costs by the end of 2022 to offset spending on new technology.

The company said profits would be eroded by higher raw materials prices, the costs of compliance with tougher emissions requirements and unfavourable shifts in currency exchange rates.

The Munich-based carmaker also faces increased uncertainty due to international trade conflicts that could lead to higher tariffs.

The company forecast a profit margin of 6% to 8% for its automotive business, short of the long-term strategic target of 8% to 10%, which it said still “remains the ambition” for the company given “a stable business environment”.

BMW said it had no plans for lay-offs even as it outlined cost-saving measures that include dropping half of its engine variants as it seeks to reduce product complexity.

The BMW, Mini and RollsRoyce brands are to get a single sales division.

Chief financial officer Nicolas Peter said that given the headwinds to earnings, “we began to introduce countermeasures at an early stage and have taken a number of far-reaching decisions”.

The company said the measures were needed “to offset the ongoing high level of upfront expenditure required to embrace the mobility of the future”. Car- makers around the world have faced heavy upfront costs for technology expected to change how people get from one place to another.

These include electric cars and renting vehicles through smartphone apps.

Yet the returns from such investments remain uncertain and car companies face competition from tech firms such as Uber and Waymo.

BMW made €7.2bn (£6.2bn) in net profit last year, down 17% from 2017, when it booked a gain of $1bn from US tax changes.

The company faced headwinds from increased tariffs on vehicles exported to China from the US.

It also suffered from turmoil in the German car market, with companies facing bottlenecks getting cars certified for new emissions rules.