BMW To Slash 5,600 More Jobs In 2008

I thought BMW was doing well with sales and hitting good numbers. Why the huge cut, that's pretty crazy.

to stay lean & keep ahead of problems before they start.

Not crazy if you are leaning and meaning the corporation for financial reasons. BTW, BMW is also trying to improve economies of scale by offering to sell engines and transmissions to GM and others. I suspect there is a hidden agenda to make BMW more profitable in order to enhance share price. This would be very useful if BMW is plotting acquisitions in the Auto industry with payment largely in shares.

I suppose the initial reaction to a company cutting jobs is that something must be wrong (reactive) but in this case, after reading the reasons for, I think BMW is being proactive.

And Mr. Takeo Fukui (Honda) says Mr. Carlos Ghosn's (Nissan) statement about the auto industry being affected by the U.S. recession is wrong. Well, there you go, Mr. Fukui. Even Germany's best is feeling the heat. The article doesn't say it is directly linked to that, but I bet it is somewhat related to declining sales in the U.S.

And yet Honda (or Acura) has not laid off anyone, ever as far as I know...

"And yet Honda (or Acura) has not laid off anyone"

I never said Honda (Acura) will lay off anyone. I'm simply stating Mr. Fukui's denial of a inminent truth. Whether we like it or not, the U.S. is falling into a recession that not even Mr. Bush's $600 advance loan is going to get us out of.

I think Fukui meant the Honda would not be affected as much by the downturn in the US car market, remember they offer a lot of small, fuel efficient cars...

from eGM Car Tech:

Honda’s CEO, Takeo Fukui disagrees with the recent comments made by Nissan’s CEO Carlos Ghosn about the AUTO INDUSTRY being in a recession.

http://www.egmcartech.com/2008/02/27/hondas-ceo-disagrees-with-ghosn-says-no-recession-in-us/

Spellchecker made a funny! woo hoo

Makes a little more sense now that I look at it from a pro-active stance. With economies slowing down across the world and the need to change to different engines and higher efficiency they need some restructuring. Might as well do it now when you have the extra cash instead of laying people off to make up that money later on.

I could see this as a move to bring diesels to the US, sell engines to GM, and possibly really push on their Hydrogen technology as Honda is coming out with one in California for lease end of this year or next year.

So if BMW wanted to get a head start there, why not do it now, they already advertise their clean energy with the Hydrogen 7 series they have been playing with for quite some time. And since Lexus is going the way of hybrids, moving up a notch and not trying to compete in that market, going straight to the next generation with a Hydro car would be amazing. First luxury car powered by Hydrogen available to the masses.

The bottom line is the bottom line: BMW's net profit per unit is stagnant and this is hurting BMW's profit margins. Yes, they sell an increased volume, but the return on the volume is less thus eventually costing more. Cutting expenses ensures a higher net profit per unit. BMW's competitors all have higher net profit per unit as this time. Plus, since the US is BMW's second biggest market, the exchange is also having a potential negative effect. The Euro climbed to $1.51 per Euro today.

The Euro climbed on itself?!? NOOOoooo...

"The Euro climbed to $1.51 per Euro today."

LOL.

WRONG WRONG WRONG

BMW's largest market is the U.S.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


WRONG WRONG WRONG

I guess it is time for Lexus fanboys to take jabs :) Good thing it was not GM then BMW and Lexus can take jabs at them...lol.

BMW is a business and I am sure upper management agreed that trimming the fat was neccessary to stay competitive in the market.

Ask the people who are getting laid off....

What would you be saying if Audi laid off 6,000 workers???

Pressure from Lexus,they better save their money,if things stay tight in the U.S. the incentives will get deep and nobody has more money than Toyota.

You are SO STUPID and so wrong!

That's not good.

Deboosting isn't going to change the facts. BMW's net profit per unit is low and that is why they are getting squeezed. Read the auto business journals if you think you know better.