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BMW warns profits will fall, plans $13.6 billion in cost-cutting

FRANKFURT, Germany — BMW said Wednesday that profits in 2019 will be "well below" last year's, and it will cut 12 billion euros ($13.6 billion) in costs by the end of 2022 to offset spending on new technology. The company said profits would be eroded by higher raw materials prices, the costs of compliance with tougher emissions requirements and unfavorable shifts in currency exchange rates. The Munich-based automaker also faces increased uncertainty due to international trade conflicts that could lead to higher tariffs. "Depending on how conditions develop, our guidance may be subject to additional risks; in particular, the risk of a no-deal Brexit and ongoing developments in international trade policy," said Chief Financial Officer Nicolas Peter. The company forecast a profit margin of 6 to 8 percent for its automotive business, short of the long-term strategic target of 8 to 10 percent, which it said still "remains the ambition" for the company if given "a stable business environment." BMW said it had no plans for layoffs even as it outlined cost saving measures that include dropping half of its engine variants as it seeks to reduce product complexity. The BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brands are to get a single sales division. Peter said that given the headwinds to earnings, "we began to introduce countermeasures at an early stage and have taken a number of far-reaching decisions." The company said the measures were needed "to offset the ongoing high level of upfront expenditure required to embrace the mobility of the future." Automakers around the world have faced heavy up-front costs for technology expected to change how people get from one place to another in the next decade. Those include electric cars and renting cars through smartphone apps. Yet the returns from such investments remain uncertain and auto companies face competition from tech firms such as Uber and Waymo. BMW made 7.2 billion euros ($8.2 billion) in net profit last year, down 17 percent from 2017, when it booked a gain of $1 billion from U.S. tax changes. The company faced headwinds from increased tariffs on vehicles exported to China from the United States. It also suffered from turmoil on the German auto market when companies faced bottlenecks getting cars certified for new emissions rules. BMW faces uncertainty from U.S.-China trade tensions that could result in new tariffs if talks do not result in an agreement. U.S.

Recharge Wrap-up: electric taxis in Montreal, Sebastien Buemi leads Formula E testing

Sebastien Buemi leads the pack in the second session of Formula E pre-season testing. Buemi, driving for Renault e.dams, set a new lap record at Donington Park with a time of 1:31.050s. Buemi says that, with a little bit of work, he feels like he could shave off another second or more. "We could do quite a bit on the car and the car is a bit easier to drive, the stability is better, the brakes are better," he says. "I see some good potential, we just need to extract it from the car." Sam Bird was the second fastest during the testing session, followed by Daniel Abt. Read more in the press release below. A Montreal taxi company plans to create a fleet of 2,000 electric taxis by 2019. Taxi Hochelaga currently has the city's second largest fleet with 500 taxis currently in service. Owner Alexandre Taillefer believes this large fleet of green taxis will help the company compete with ride services like Uber and Lyft. "We want to be an alternative to the second car and even to the first," says Taillefer. "We will reduce traffic on the roads and pollution." The company's first electric cabs could be in service as early as November. Read more at Green Car Reports, or, if you speak French, at Le Journal de Montreal. DriveNow is open to franchising. The carsharing company, owned by BMW and rental company Sixt, will allow third parties to operate the DriveNow program in certain cities, according to a report. DriveNow is set to launch a fleet of 400 electric cars in Copenhagen, Denmark with the help of Arriva Plc. Read more from Automotive News Europe. Kandi Technologies Group Inc. on Monday reported second-quarter net income of $5.4 million. On a per-share basis, the Jinhua, China-based company said it had profit of 12 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, were 10 cents per share. The electric and all-terrain vehicle maker posted revenue of $48 million in the period. For the current quarter ending in October, Kandi Tech said it expects revenue in the range of $49 million to $51 million. Kandi Tech shares have dropped 45 percent since the beginning of the year. The stock has fallen 59 percent in the last 12 months. The AP contributed to this report. BUEMI STAYS ON TOP IN SECOND TEST Renault e.dams driver heads field for consecutive days at Donington Park DONINGTON PARK, UK (August 11 2015): Sebastien Buemi broke the Formula E lap record at Donington Park as he once again set the fastest time in pre-season testing.

New BBC Top Gear season is off to a great start

The past few years have been very demanding for Top Gear fans. The Jeremy Clarkson Top Gear got too big for itself, and the core quality of the series degraded as stunts and jokes gradually became more and more stale. Things came to a head with the Fracasgate, with Clarkson punching a producer in a very nice hotel in Yorkshire with a very nice brass plaque commemorating "The End of Clarkson's BBC Career". Fast forward to a year ago, when the BBC produced a new series of Top Gear, with famed breakfast show person and shouting enthusiast Chris Evans hosting. Laden with personnel and curiously lacking any direction, the first new season collapsed onto itself with Evans eventually quitting the entire shindig. After that, viewers received a new, Amazon-produced Clarkson-Hammond-May series called The Grand Tour, which was often brilliant and just as often hampered by writing as hackneyed as the last Clarkson years of Top Gear. Now the slate is clean. Evans is gone. The first Grand Tour season has aired. The BBC has had a good long time to re-evaluate its strategy. And the first episode of this season's Top Gear has aired in the UK - and will air March 12 on BBC America. Your first extended look at all new #TopGear, coming 5 March. See you there pic.twitter.com/lYoYOtrWxR — Top Gear (@BBC_TopGear) February 23, 2017 What an improvement! It seems like the producers have taken an ax to everything not strictly necessary for making a great car show, and they've left what is absolutely crucial. There are the three car guys, Matt LeBlanc, Chris Harris and Rory Reid. There is a new studio. There is a new track car. There is a celebrity, but it's not painful to watch. There are easy jokes, there are car jokes, there are Ronin jokes. Ronin jokes! It's as if Harris, by dissecting continuity errors in the 1998 film's BMW chase, is reaching out to us fans, saying he's one of us, and he did notice the wrong wheels when the black BMW falls from the bridge. (Other mistakes are wrong-colored tach needles, for instance.) The first car film is a quality Ferrari FXX K piece, with Harris enjoying one of the 40 built track-day specials on the bankings of Daytona. It's remarkable it was Harris who was allowed to drive the exclusive Ferrari, as the first "outsider" (in his words) to drive one; years ago Harris was one of the most vocal critics of Ferrari's practices, resulting in him getting banned from driving press Ferraris. But then again, this is a customer car.