German automaker’s joint venture faces mounting pressure from declining vehicle sales in its largest market
BMW Brilliance, the German luxury automaker’s primary manufacturing and sales operation in China, has reportedly begun laying off approximately 1,800 employees, roughly 10% of its workforce, as the joint venture faces intensifying pressure from falling vehicle sales.
The reductions began on November 2, according to multiple employees cited in reports released this week. The company is offering a uniform severance package calculated as “n+5,” where the base component is derived from monthly pretax salary, with an additional five months of compensation based on basic salary. Performance-related payments and other compensation forms are excluded from the additional months’ calculation.
Production workers account for the overwhelming majority of those affected, though job losses reportedly extend across nearly all employment categories. Office and management positions have also been cut, including employees with more than a decade of service who had advanced to supervisory roles. Workers with three to five years of tenure have also been included in the reductions.
The layoffs extend beyond the joint venture’s directly employed workforce. Multiple employees indicated that some departments had already halted renewal of expiring employment contracts prior to the formal reduction announcement, and outsourced workers have reportedly experienced similar reductions.
BMW Brilliance, headquartered in Shenyang in northeastern China’s Liaoning province, employed more than 19,000 workers before the reported cuts, according to union records referenced in recent reports. The company had not publicly confirmed the layoffs, their scale, or the severance terms at the time reports were published.
The workforce reductions reflect broader challenges in China’s automotive market and BMW’s performance there. BMW and Mini delivered approximately 376,000 vehicles in China during the first three quarters of 2026, representing a 21.8% decline compared with the same period last year. This decline stands in sharp contrast to BMW Group’s performance in other major markets, where the company achieved growth. European deliveries rose 4.5% and U.S. deliveries increased 3.4% over the same period.
Globally, BMW Group vehicle deliveries fell 4.9% to approximately 1.708 million units during the nine-month period, but the China decline accounted for the company’s overall weakness.
Despite the challenging sales environment and workforce reductions, BMW continues investing heavily in transforming its Chinese operations toward electrification. The company has announced the mass production of its sixth-generation high-voltage batteries at its Shenyang facility, following an October 15 announcement. The battery project represents a 10 billion yuan ($1.49 billion) investment and will initially power the company’s Neue Klasse lineup in China.
BMW opened preorders for the China-specific long-wheelbase Neue Klasse iX3 on August 21, with deliveries scheduled to begin in November. The vehicle represents part of the automaker’s broader rollout of its next-generation electric vehicle line in China, backed by locally produced battery technology.
The simultaneous reduction of existing production workforce and expansion of electric vehicle manufacturing capabilities highlights the operational complexities facing established international automakers in China. Declining sales of current vehicles coincide with substantial capital investments in next-generation production infrastructure, creating tension between immediate workforce needs and long-term strategic positioning.
For BMW Brilliance, managing this transition while maintaining manufacturing capacity for both existing and new vehicle lines remains a significant operational challenge.
