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After Daimler and Nissan, BMW also announced that it would cancel a number of models. At present, BMW management has decided to cancel the product lines of 2-series convertibles, standard wheelbase 7-series, X2, 8-series coupes and convertibles, as well as the next generation Z4, and this is just the beginning.

With BMW CEO Krueger announcing that he will no longer seek a successor when his contract expires in April 2020, and production director Oliver Zipps (Oliver Zipse) will take over on Aug. 16, more model cuts are expected.

Throughout the first half of the year, sales of the world's major automakers declined, mainly due to the global economic downturn. In the first quarter of this year, BMW's revenue was 22.462 billion euros, down 0.9% from a year earlier, while net profit was 588 million euros, down 74.2% from a year earlier. Among them, BMW's auto division posted a loss of 310 million euros for the first time since 2009.

In the face of declining performance, major car companies will adopt cost-cutting measures, such as streamlining models, layoffs and even reducing the investment of R & D funds. At present, however, it can be seen from the decisions of BMW management that the models to be cancelled are all unpopular models.

In addition, under the premise of policy guidance and market changes, global car companies have turned to electrification. Although traditional fuel models will not disappear anytime soon, manufacturers have long had the idea of streamlining their product lines. Because more money is needed to invest in electric cars and self-driving.

In the face of high R & D investment in emerging technologies such as electrification and self-driving, trade conflicts and the overall car market trend this year, BMW is still not optimistic about its profit margin this year. BMW Group issued a profit warning in March, its 2019 earnings will be "well below" 2018 levels. To this end, a cost-saving program of 12 billion euros ($13.63 billion) will be carried out to help offset the adverse effects of trade conflicts and unprecedented investment spending on electric vehicles.

In this context, BMW, like other companies, is facing huge challenges, perhaps even greater than those faced by other automakers. The company has long been associated with the sports driving experience, and the coming electrified world is not as fascinating as BMW's fuel cars with engines and rigid chassis.

At the same time, however, BMW is also creating flexible production platforms for different power models such as traditional internal combustion engines, plug-in hybrids and pure electric models, as well as actively developing electric drive technology and power battery cell technology.

Although the development of electric vehicles is still hampered by problems such as mileage, electric vehicles accelerate much faster than internal combustion engines. Both BMW and MINI brands are feeling the pressure of competition. However, BMW knows that sales of electric vehicles in China, Europe and the United States are growing.

As a result, the company has set a layout of 25 new energy models by 2023, two years ahead of schedule, more than half of which will be pure electric vehicles. BMW expects its electric car sales to double by 2021. The company is working on developing plug-in hybrid cars to achieve this goal.

At present, in the face of declining performance, major enterprises around the world continue to make a variety of coping strategies. And are turning their focus to the rapid development of electrification reform.

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