*This content was translated by AI.View Original
BMW Brilliance, BMW's Chinese joint venture, has officially launched a large-scale workforce reduction in response to recent sluggish performance and intensifying local competition. The cuts are expected to affect approximately 1,800 employees.
According to local media and industry sources on the 3rd, BMW China announced that as of November 2, it had restructured approximately 1,800 positions, accounting for about 10% of its total workforce. The layoffs were broadly implemented, focusing primarily on on-site production workers and some administrative staff at the headquarters and manufacturing plant in Shenyang, Liaoning Province. It was reported that the company is providing severance compensation under so-called N+5 terms to departing employees, calculated as N times their pre-tax monthly salary plus an additional five months' worth of base pay.
The workforce reduction at this local Chinese entity was carried out in the same context as the global employee reduction plan currently being implemented by BMW headquarters. BMW headquarters is planning a global layoff of approximately 8,000 people, equivalent to about 5% of its total workforce, with administrative and research and development positions primarily targeted for cuts in regions outside China. The significant cost-cutting measures are driven by a notable deterioration in recent performance. BMW's pre-tax profit in the first half of 2026 plunged 29.4% compared to the same period last year, while its automotive division's operating profit margin stood at just 3.6%, falling far short of its long-term target range of 8% to 10%.
In particular, sluggish sales in China, its largest market, dealt a major blow. During the first three quarters of 2026, global vehicle sales declined by 4.9% to approximately 1.71 million units, while BMW and MINI vehicle sales in the Chinese market plummeted 21.8% to remain at about 376,000 units. The Shenyang production plant, established jointly by BMW and Brilliance in May 2003, has played a crucial role as BMW's largest global manufacturing base; however, amid fierce local electric vehicle competition and performance pressure, the company ultimately had to significantly reduce costs. Industry attention is now focused on whether BMW will be able to recover sales volume and revive its performance in the Chinese market, with many watching closely for any changes in its future market response strategies amidst the rapidly shifting global automotive environment.
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*This content was translated by AI.View Original
