The board has widened its restructuring plans, taking a one-off hit in the fourth quarter while retiring some Gen5 battery models sooner than planned.
BMW Group's board updated its 2026 guidance on 3 November, cutting the expected Automotive EBIT margin to between -0.5% and +0.5% from 1-3%. Non-operating charges in the fourth quarter stem from wider portfolio and structural measures, including earlier phase-out of selected Gen5 battery models.
BMW Group has lowered its profit forecast for 2026 and brought forward the retirement of some of its current electric models, citing the speed of the Neue Klasse ramp-up. The board of management announced the update on 3 November, saying it has decided to widen and intensify its portfolio and structural measures.
The company stressed that operating performance held up in the third quarter. The change comes from the cost of the measures the board has approved, which will weigh on Automotive earnings in the fourth quarter as a non-operating item.
The revised numbers
The Automotive segment's EBIT margin is now expected to land between -0.5% and +0.5% for the year, against a previous range of 1-3%. Before the structural and portfolio measures are counted, BMW still expects that margin to sit above 2.0%. Return on capital employed in the segment is forecast at between -1% and +1%, down from a range of 1-5%.
Cash is a different story. BMW says its expectation for Automotive Free Cashflow has not moved: it still anticipates more than 2.5 billion euros in 2026, which the company points to as evidence of stable operating performance.
Several other guidance lines shifted as well:
- Automotive deliveries are now expected to show a moderate decrease on the previous year, where BMW had said a slight decrease.
- The share of all-electric cars in deliveries should show a slight increase, rather than staying level with last year.
- Scope 3 CO2e emissions from the supply chain and use phase are expected to fall slightly, instead of holding level.
- Motorcycle deliveries are now seen slightly lower than last year, where BMW had expected them to stay level.
Why the older models go first
The portfolio measures follow what BMW describes as sustained high demand for Neue Klasse models. The company added extra production shifts early on in response, and that faster ramp-up now gives it room to start phasing out previous vehicle and technology generations sooner. BMW names selected models built on Gen5 battery technology among those affected, though the announcement does not say which ones.
Looking ahead, BMW says the Neue Klasse, together with technology clusters such as Gen6, will help profitability in the coming years through its level of innovation and improved cost efficiency.
Restructuring moves faster
The announcement also covers people. BMW intends to use the momentum from its workforce restructuring programme to push its organisational and process changes through more quickly and more widely. As one example, it says the reduction in management functions will happen faster than first announced.
More detail is due in the company's Q3 Report, scheduled for publication on 4 November 2026.
Where BMW started the year
For context, the BMW Group sold 2.46 million passenger vehicles and more than 202,500 motorcycles worldwide in 2025 across BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad. Profit before tax that year was 10.2 billion euros, and the group had 154,540 employees at the end of December 2025.
