Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the world’s largest luxury carmaker, will scale back its workforce under a plan announced three months ago to boost profit with 6 billion euros ($8.6 billion) in spending cuts.
The carmaker will eliminate “several thousand’’ jobs by not replacing people who leave and through contract agreements on work-time flexibility, said Mathias Schmidt, a spokesman at Munich-based BMW. Schmidt wouldn’t confirm a report today in German magazine Der Spiegel’s online edition that 8,000 positions will be cut next year. ...
Rising costs for raw materials, as well as research into new technologies to reduce emissions and boost fuel efficiency, are a burden on profit, Reithofer has said. The European Union proposed rules Dec. 19 that would force BMW and competitors to reduce their cars’ carbon-dioxide emissions under a planned cap to fight climate change by encouraging lighter autos.
The rules mean BMW and Daimler both need 25 percent reductions in average CO2 emissions, according to the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm. BMW is already spending an extra 1 billion euros on its Efficient Dynamics program, conceived to reduce fuel consumption and increase motor and vehicle efficiency.
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