BMW (ETR:BMW) have become the latest carmaker to admit volatile markets in China may affect business, as its sales fall in the country for the first time in a decade.
The world’s biggest luxury carmaker warned this morning that its outlook could be at risk if the situation in China worsens. The company joins Volkswagen, who have just lowered their sales forecast in China, and Audi, who have both expressed concern over weak demand in the region.
“If conditions on the Chinese market become more challenging, we cannot rule out a possible effect on the BMW Group’s outlook,” the Munich-based carmaker said in its quarterly report.
The company reported a 3 percent fall in second-quarter operating profit this morning, and shares in BMW dropped 2 percent in early trading becoming the second-biggest decliners on Germany’s DAX index.
“The scale of the increase during the forecast period is likely to be held down by fierce competition on automobile markets, rising personnel costs, continued high levels of upfront expenditure to safeguard business viability going forward and upcoming challenges relating to the normalisation of the Chinese market,” BMW said.
