MUNICH, July 30 — BMW’s second-quarter profit fell sharply as weaker sales in China and mounting cost pressures weighed on the German carmaker, German Press Agency (dpa) reported.
Net profit dropped 35 per cent from a year earlier to €1.2 billion (US$1.4 billion), while revenue fell to €31 billion from €34 billion, the company said on Thursday.
The figures came a day after plans emerged for BMW to cut 8,000 jobs worldwide, underscoring the pressure on the group to reduce costs.
The downturn was even steeper in its automotive division, where earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) plunged by more than 60 per cent to €629 million.
BMW consequently earned more from its financial services business during the quarter than from manufacturing cars.
The company was hit particularly hard in China, where sales fell by almost a third in the second quarter amid intensifying competition in the world’s largest car market.
