BMW's operating profit fell 37.4 percent from a year earlier to 3.64 billion euros in the first half of 2026. Net profit declined 28.5 percent to 2.87 billion euros, marking a broad deterioration in earnings at the German premium automaker.
Vehicle deliveries dropped 4.2 percent to 1.16 million units during the six-month period. The company now expects full-year deliveries to finish slightly below the 2025 level, extending the pressure from weaker volumes into its annual outlook.
Tariffs reduced the automotive segment's second-quarter earnings-before-interest-and-tax margin by 1.25 percentage points. The margin fell to 2.3 percent from 5.4 percent a year earlier, showing that trade costs accounted for a significant portion of the decline.
Chief Executive Milan Nedeljkovic identified elevated tariffs, trade barriers, stricter European regulation and the continued conflict in the Middle East as the principal headwinds over the past year. Those pressures combine market access costs with operational and geopolitical uncertainty.
BMW will eliminate around 8,000 positions worldwide between October 2026 and the end of 2027. More than half of the reductions are expected in Germany, with the programme focused partly on non-production jobs and intended to streamline the organization.
The company employed about 154,500 people globally at the end of 2025, including more than 80,000 in Germany. Management reached an agreement with labor representatives on the workforce restructuring, giving the cost programme a negotiated framework in its largest employment base.
The cuts form part of a wider efficiency drive designed to protect long-term competitiveness as regulation and international trade conditions tighten. BMW must now improve costs without weakening production capabilities while attempting to stabilize deliveries and recover margins from the first-half contraction.
