BMW has obtained a net profit of 1,672 million euros in the first quarter of 2026, which represents a decrease of 23.1% compared to the same period of the previous year, in results marked by the weakness of China and the impact of tariffs on the group’s profitability. The company has kept its forecasts for the entire year unchanged, despite the operational deterioration recorded in the quarter. Revenues reached 31,007 million euros between January and March, 8.1% less, while EBIT fell 36.2%, to 2,004 million euros. The figures have fallen short of consensus forecasts for revenue and EBIT, although net profit has exceeded market estimates. The group’s deliveries have decreased by 3.5%, to 565,780 vehicles, penalized mainly by the poor performance of China, where sales have fallen by 10%. China represents approximately 25% of the group’s total sales. Furthermore, the EMEA region has fallen by 8% and the United States has fallen by 4%, while Europe has managed to advance by 3% in the quarter.
TARIFFS PRESSURE
The deterioration in profitability has been compounded by the impact of tariffs. The EBIT margin of the automobile business stood at 5%, below the 5.2% expected by the market and clearly lower than the 6.9% recorded in the first quarter of 2025. As highlighted by Bankinter, tariffs have subtracted around 1.25 percentage points from the margin during the quarter. Even so, BMW maintains its forecasts for 2026 and continues to expect stable deliveries compared to 2025, in addition to an EBIT margin of between 4% and 6% for both the automobile and motorcycle businesses. Bankinter analysts consider that the figures show a “weak evolution and worse than estimated”, affected by the slowdown in China and the tariff environment. In addition, they warn that Donald Trump’s renewed threats to raise tariffs on European car imports to 25%, compared to the current 15%, represent «an additional risk» that is not contemplated in BMW’s current forecasts.
