BMW CEO warns that company could lose money in 2009

BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer said today that the automaker could lose money this year if the current global sales downturn continues. Reithofer declined to give any earnings outlook for the full year but said that it expects global auto sales to decline between 10 and 20 percent.

“For 2009, the largest risk is the collapsing market. If revenues fall more than 20 percent, you lose money,” Reithofer said at the company’s annual earnings conference, reports Automotive News.

Reithofer said that after the inevitable decline this year, sale volumes will pick up again in 2010.

BMW Group’s sales dropped 24.3 percent to 150,838 units in January and February. During the last months of 2008, BMW sales declined 4.3 percent, its first annual drop since 1993.

– By: Kap Shah