According to a report from Germany's "Handelsblatt", BMW Group intends to slash 8,000 white-collar jobs by the end of 2027. This move will mainly impact non-production positions in administration, research and development (R&D), and planning within Germany, leaving production line workers unscathed. The company has rolled out a voluntary resignation compensation package, with the maximum payout hitting €650,000 (roughly RMB 4.876 million). This amount significantly surpasses the previous compensation standards set by German automakers such as Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz.

After the announcement, approximately 40,000 employees swarmed the internal HR system to inquire about their potential compensation, which led to the system crashing for several hours. BMW managed to restore the system the following day. However, given the sheer volume of applications, the company decided to temporarily suspend new submissions and focus on processing existing requests first.

BMW explained that the generous compensation is designed to cut long-term labor costs through a one-off expenditure. It is estimated that starting from 2028, the company will achieve annual savings of about €1 billion (around RMB 7.501 billion). The layoffs are closely linked to BMW's operational challenges, especially the slumping sales in China. In the third quarter of 2026, BMW's sales in China plummeted nearly 25% year-on-year, a decline that the growth in European and U.S. markets couldn't make up for.