BMW is planning to cut as many as 8,000 jobs in Germany, according to reports, The Guardian reported.

The Munich-headquartered company has started a voluntary redundancy program agreed with employee representatives, a BMW spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The company and its works council had agreed a severance program targeting the administration and development divisions, the spokesperson said. Production operations are excluded.

BMW’s total workforce is about 160,000.

A spokesperson said: “The BMW Group is proactively shaping the profound changes taking place in its operating environment. These include the technological transformation of the automotive industry, geopolitical uncertainties, changing market conditions and developments in China.”

Germany’s carmakers have come under intense pressure in recent years with the rise of Chinese competitors that have quickly come to dominate in the electric vehicle market. Chinese manufacturers have also launched a fierce price war in their home market.

Europe’s carmakers have also had to find cash for their own transition from gasoline to electric, and cope with the impact of US tariffs.

BMW is not the only German carmaker to announce job cuts. Volkswagen, Germany’s largest carmaker by volume, confirmed that it would cut as many as 100,000 jobs from its total workforce of 650,000. The plans include closing four factories and halving the number of models produced.

Porsche, the sports car brand part-owned by Volkswagen, is also undergoing a severe restructuring. Another 5,000 job cuts were agreed this week, taking total planned redundancies to 9,000—a fifth of its workforce—by 2035.

Despite the increase in profits, Porsche’s sales in China slumped by 30% to 14,500 in the first half of 2026.

British sports car manufacturer Aston Martin reported a loss before tax of £89 million in the second quarter of 2026, up from £61 million in the same period a year earlier.