BMW headquarters in Munich
The automaker is hit by the corona crisis.
Munich The BMWCorporation drastically shortens its outlook for this year due to the Corona crisis. For 2020, the Munich-based carmaker expects sales to be “significantly below the previous year’s level”. For the year as a whole, the group expects an operating return of only two to four percent – four percentage points less than previously planned.
The group also reserves the right to “take all necessary measures promptly”. So a production stop, as the competitors Daimler and Volkswagen have already arranged, also with BMW imminent.
Despite the crisis, BMW wants to keep its investments in future technologies high. CEO Oliver Zipse announced that he would invest around 30 billion euros in research and development by 2025. In the coming years, BMW will continue the record value of around six billion euros that BMW has invested in 2019, especially for its entry into electromobility.
BMW confirmed for the first time that the new 7-series will also be available as an electric model from 2022. The group plans to offer a dozen fully electric models by 2025, and around a third of the cars sold in Europe will then have a hybrid or electric drive.
Despite the crisis, the number of 133,000 jobs worldwide is expected to remain. In the coming months, BMW plans to take advantage of short-time work, cut working time accounts and send employees to the home office. “I am convinced that with these three instruments we can steer our workforce sensibly and safely through this corona crisis,” said Works Council Chairman Manfred Schoch.
In any case, the upholstery is there: BMW reports record sales of just over 100 billion euros in 2019, with more than 2.5 million cars sold for the first time. However, net profit fell by a quarter to around five billion euros.
More: Corona crisis paralyzes the economy – more and more factories have to close