BMW headquarters in Munich
The automaker is hit by the corona crisis.
Munich BMW stops its auto production due to the spread of the corona virus Europe for four weeks. CEO Oliver Zipse said in Munich on Wednesday: “Starting today, we will shut down our European automotive plants and the Rosslyn plant in South Africa. The production interruption is expected to be scheduled for April 19. ”
In addition, because of the corona crisis, the group is drastically reducing its outlook for this year. 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.
BMW also wants to use its own company agreements for short-time work during the planned production interruption. “This stipulates that the net income of a tariff employee at BMW is at least 93 percent of the usual level, even for short-time work,” said works council chief Manfred Schoch. Other instruments are the use of working time accounts and the possibility of working from home.
“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. Despite the crisis, the number of 133,000 jobs worldwide is expected to remain.
Zipse said BMW wanted to maintain the balance between employee health and the company’s economic success. “Because there is a time during Corona and a time after Corona.”
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.
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