After the Corona year 2020, BMW is back on track. The company dealt with bottlenecks in semiconductor supply better than its competitors. But gradually it might get more difficult.
BMW sold more cars in the first half of the year than ever before and made a profit of 7.6 billion euros. For the second half of the year, however, the Munich-based company is more cautious.
“In view of various risks such as raw material prices and semiconductor supply, the second half of the year is likely to be more volatile for the BMW Group,” said CEO Oliver Zipse on Tuesday.
In the year as a whole, almost 9 percent of sales should remain as profit in the auto division before interest and taxes. In the first half of the year, BMW even achieved 13 percent. The cost of hedging credit risks and falling used car prices are likely to fall. Demand and prices are also supported by the production bottlenecks due to a lack of electronic components.
“The forecast assumes that neither the corona pandemic nor the semiconductor supply situation will worsen significantly and that price developments on the international raw material markets will remain stable,” said CFO Nicolas Peter. “However, the longer the delivery bottlenecks last, the more tense the situation. We also expect production restrictions and the associated effects on vehicle sales in the second half of the year. “
These concerns also weigh on the competition, which has also become more skeptical after a strong first half of the year: Daimler has revised its sales forecast downwards, Audi expects further production losses and short-time work.
In the first half of the year, the Munich-based company sold 1.34 million cars and was ahead of Mercedes-Benz for the first time in a long while for the white and blue core brand. Sales rose by 28 percent to 55.4 billion euros compared to the same period of the previous year, which was characterized by the corona pandemic and global lockdowns. The pre-tax profit was 9.7 billion euros, after half a billion in the same period of the previous year. Around one billion euros from provisions dissolved in antitrust proceedings also contributed to this: the EU fine imposed in July, at 373 million euros, was significantly smaller than feared.
“The annual targets are to be achieved with a slight decrease in the number of employees,” announced BMW. Since January, the number of employees has shrunk by four percent to 120,726.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
