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BMW to cut 'several thousand' jobs next year: company spokesman
2 hours ago
FRANKFURT (AFP) — German car maker BMW is set to eliminate "several thousand" jobs next year as part of a cost-cutting plan, a spokesman for the group told AFP on Friday.
A BMW spokesman would not confirm the number of job cuts but noted the company has said it plans to boost profitability by cutting costs for materials, development and staff.
"We don't have a set figure but it is a question of several thousand" posts, the spokesman said.
"We are working to change the trend in the development of our profitability," the spokesman said. "That also comprises personnel savings."
The news magazine Der Spiegel reported on its Internet site that BMW would slash about 8,000 jobs.
The company aimed to increase profitability by cutting personnel costs, and most of the jobs to be eliminated were in Germany, the spokesman said.
Part-time assembly line posts would be among those most affected, but the company would also offer severance packages to full-time workers and also leave posts vacant as others retired, he added.
BMW nonetheless was looking to hire staff elsewhere, the spokesman said.
"We need engineers and skilled workers," he said.
"But we cannot increase productivity in the manufacturing sector."
According to Der Spiegel's online report, BMW's profitability remains below that of German rival Mercedes-Benz, with both car makers and VW's high-end Audi division fighting weaker sales in their domestic and North American markets.
Chief Executive Officer Norbert Reithofer outlined the five- year savings program in September after BMW's profitability lost ground to Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz Cars division. The automotive division aims by 2012 to raise its return on capital employed to 26 percent from 22 percent last year, and reach a return on sales of 8 percent to 10 percent, versus 5.9 percent.
``BMW is under a lot of pressure from the capital markets as well as their majority owner, the Quandt family, to become more profitable and efficient,'' said Gregor Claussen, an analyst at SEB in Frankfurt with a ``buy'' recommendation on the shares. ``With this kind of move they are showing the market that they are serious and doing something about their situation.''
Production capacity at BMW plants in the US state of South Carolina and in China would be expanded, the report said.
The carmaker, in contrast to Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler and Wolfsburg, Germany-based Volkswagen AG, hasn't cut its workforce this decade while stretching production to meet surging demand for its luxury cars. BMW employed 107,731 people worldwide as of Sept. 30, an increase of almost 1 percent from a year earlier.
Source: AFP, Reuters, Bloomberg
Now this is a surprise, since the management position has always been there would be no job cutting but the other actions would be taken to increase profitability.
Ouch! Greedy Qunadts & Co.!
2 hours ago
FRANKFURT (AFP) — German car maker BMW is set to eliminate "several thousand" jobs next year as part of a cost-cutting plan, a spokesman for the group told AFP on Friday.
A BMW spokesman would not confirm the number of job cuts but noted the company has said it plans to boost profitability by cutting costs for materials, development and staff.
"We don't have a set figure but it is a question of several thousand" posts, the spokesman said.
"We are working to change the trend in the development of our profitability," the spokesman said. "That also comprises personnel savings."
The news magazine Der Spiegel reported on its Internet site that BMW would slash about 8,000 jobs.
The company aimed to increase profitability by cutting personnel costs, and most of the jobs to be eliminated were in Germany, the spokesman said.
Part-time assembly line posts would be among those most affected, but the company would also offer severance packages to full-time workers and also leave posts vacant as others retired, he added.
BMW nonetheless was looking to hire staff elsewhere, the spokesman said.
"We need engineers and skilled workers," he said.
"But we cannot increase productivity in the manufacturing sector."
According to Der Spiegel's online report, BMW's profitability remains below that of German rival Mercedes-Benz, with both car makers and VW's high-end Audi division fighting weaker sales in their domestic and North American markets.
Chief Executive Officer Norbert Reithofer outlined the five- year savings program in September after BMW's profitability lost ground to Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz Cars division. The automotive division aims by 2012 to raise its return on capital employed to 26 percent from 22 percent last year, and reach a return on sales of 8 percent to 10 percent, versus 5.9 percent.
``BMW is under a lot of pressure from the capital markets as well as their majority owner, the Quandt family, to become more profitable and efficient,'' said Gregor Claussen, an analyst at SEB in Frankfurt with a ``buy'' recommendation on the shares. ``With this kind of move they are showing the market that they are serious and doing something about their situation.''
Production capacity at BMW plants in the US state of South Carolina and in China would be expanded, the report said.
The carmaker, in contrast to Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler and Wolfsburg, Germany-based Volkswagen AG, hasn't cut its workforce this decade while stretching production to meet surging demand for its luxury cars. BMW employed 107,731 people worldwide as of Sept. 30, an increase of almost 1 percent from a year earlier.
Source: AFP, Reuters, Bloomberg
Now this is a surprise, since the management position has always been there would be no job cutting but the other actions would be taken to increase profitability.
Ouch! Greedy Qunadts & Co.!
