BMW Struggles To Cut Costs

Jonny Lieberman
by Jonny Lieberman

U.S. automakers aren't the only ones struggling to keep their costs in line. BMW needs to shed 8100 "excess" employees to achieve their planned 500 million Euro cost-savings. Automotive News' [sub] sources vary on how many workers have signed ominously named "termination agreements." BMW claims 5k workers have left the building. Other analysts claim that just over a thousand BMW workers chose to put an "ex" in front of their job description. Further complicating Bimmer's best laid plan to trim expenditure: raw material costs just keep on a rising. We told you a few days ago how the price of steel has doubled. That's going to hit companies like BMW hard, as their cars weigh so damn much. Meanwhile, BMW's lucrative American pie ain't sweet like it once was. The dollar is down, gas prices are ridiculous, and U.S. consumers aren't buying as many cars as they once were. It may not be the ultimate headache, but put it all together and it's got to hurt.

Jonny Lieberman
Jonny Lieberman

Cleanup driver for Team Black Metal V8olvo.

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  • Ricky Spanish Ricky Spanish on Jun 06, 2008

    I just have to put this out there - I finally saw a 1-series in person. Man that car looks dorky.

  • Ethermal Ethermal on Jun 06, 2008

    Not sure where you are getting your specs from but I have a 1 series car sitting in my drvieway and it weighs about 3300 pounds soaking wet(i've weighed it already). I'll be switching over to normal sport tires and dumping the run flats and will probably save about another 50 to 100 pounds. considering the Honda Accord coupe is in the 3500 pound range I don't think the BMW is doing doing too shabby.

  • ZoomZoom ZoomZoom on Jun 06, 2008

    I drove a Z3 and loved it. Wanted a Z4, but went with a Prius instead. Okay, I can't explain that. Well, in a way I can. When I made this decision four years ago, I had decided that I wanted a car that gets better gas mileage and shuts off the gasoline engine at traffic lights and during coasting. Come on. It's REALLY STUPID to keep running the engine at traffic lights. Rows and rows and rows of cars, all burning gasoline while STOPPED. I don't care if shutting it off wouldn't save a lot worldwide. It's the principle of the matter to me. It's just wasteful (and STUPID) to burn it when you're at a standstill. Anyhow, Prius (and now other Toyondas) shut off at stand stills, but nothing from BMW can do that. All their lip-service to hyrdrogen aside, there's no excuse for this foot-dragging. Make a two-seater with auto-stop, already!

  • Gsp Gsp on Jun 06, 2008

    BMW make a far better car that people on TTAC talk about. ZoomZoom: you can use the start stop button (the one everybody complains about in BMW's) to easily shut the engine off at long stop lights. The radio and other components don't shut off either in the re-start process - a nice touch for those that use this on occasion. BMW should start making cars with a GM or Toyota logo on them because TTAC would talk about how amazing the engineering is. Plus, how many TTAC readers noticed the 3800 pound 1 series error on the first post and didn't say anything??? Besides BMW are not heavy compared to their competitors. Car for car Audi/BMW/Mercedes are all in the same ballpark.

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