Recently, multiple media outlets reported that starting November 2, a number of BMW Brilliance employees said the company had begun holding departure talks in batches, involving about 1,800 people—roughly 10% of the total workforce. It is understood that the departing personnel cover almost all job types, with the vast majority of those laid off being frontline production positions.

The news of BMW Brilliance's layoffs at this time easily brings to mind BMW Group's previous global cost-reduction plan.

At the end of July this year, BMW Group officially announced a new round of global organizational restructuring, under which about 8,000 positions will be streamlined by the end of 2027—with thousands of jobs to be cut in Germany itself, making it the core area of this round of personnel optimization. The plan will officially launch in October this year and continue through the end of 2027. The timing of BMW Brilliance's layoffs falls within BMW's global layoff plan.

At present, BMW Brilliance has not officially responded to the layoffs. Therefore, it is unknown whether the layoffs are part of BMW's global cost-reduction plan.

However, according to BMW Brilliance employees, over the past three years, BMW Brilliance has almost stopped external recruitment. Moreover, before this round of layoffs, many employees were not offered contract renewals when their labor contracts expired. In other words, even before these layoffs, BMW Brilliance's workforce had been in a state of contraction.

It is reported that the scope of this round of BMW Brilliance layoffs covers the Dadong plant, Tiexi plant and Powertrain plant in Shenyang. Among them, the Dadong plant is currently responsible for production of the X5, 5 Series long-wheelbase and i5; the Tiexi plant produces the 3 Series, X1 and iX1; and the Powertrain plant handles engine and high-voltage battery manufacturing.

To outsiders, BMW Brilliance's layoffs this time are closely related to its market performance.

Under the continuous impact of electrification, the market share of fuel-powered luxury cars keeps shrinking, while electrified models from overseas brands have also failed to win market favor. Over the past few years, BMW Brilliance's market performance has continued to decline.

Public data shows that in the first nine months of this year, BMW Brilliance sold a total of 313,102 new vehicles, down nearly 20% year on year—76,708 fewer than the same period in 2025 and 131,214 fewer than the same period in 2024. Across the product line, models such as the BMW 5 Series, BMW 3 Series, BMW X3 and BMW X1 all declined without exception. Since the start of this year, the BMW 3 Series has failed to exceed 10,000 units in monthly sales for multiple months, and monthly sales of the BMW 5 Series have dropped to the 6K+ level. As for BMW's i series, production lines were halted long ago.

In June this year, BMW officially confirmed that starting July 1, 2026, BMW Brilliance's Shenyang plant will stop producing the three domestically made pure electric models i3, i5 and iX1, no longer accept new orders, and stop once existing inventory is cleared. Among them, the i3 and iX1 will be permanently discontinued at EOP, ending their life cycles with no plans to resume production; the i5 will be temporarily halted, with a future resumption yet to be determined.

It is understood that this production halt is part of normal product life cycle iteration and production line conversion, clearing out the existing CLAR conversion-from-fuel production line at the Shenyang plant and converting it to fit the New Generation Neue Klasse dedicated pure electric platform production line. Manpower, supply chain and R&D resources will all be shifted toward all-new native pure electric models, concentrating efforts on putting the New Generation iX3 long-wheelbase version into production in the fourth quarter, with the New Generation i3 long-wheelbase version to be launched in early 2027.

Public information shows that BMW has invested more than 10 billion euros in the New Generation platform over the past five years, with cumulative investment in the Shenyang base exceeding 100 billion yuan. At present, the domestic production process for BMW's New Generation models has entered a phase of intensive implementation.

Previously, the sixth-generation power battery officially entered mass production in October. According to the plan, the New Generation iX3 long-wheelbase version will be the first to go into production in the fourth quarter of 2026, with pre-orders already open and deliveries expected by the end of the year. The New Generation i3 long-wheelbase version is expected to be produced by BMW Brilliance in the fourth quarter of 2026 and launched in the first quarter of 2027. The all-new X5/iX5 domestically produced long-wheelbase version is expected to make its debut at the Guangzhou auto show in November 2026 and officially go on sale in the first quarter of 2027.

Some analysts point out that BMW Brilliance's layoffs this time are not only about eliminating redundant positions in response to the decline in fuel vehicles, but also a structural adjustment for the production launch of New Generation models.

This also shows that BMW, under heavy pressure, is actively seeking solutions. But for BMW Brilliance, the real challenge lies in the performance of domestically produced New Generation models after they hit the market.

Under electrification, local brands are increasingly strong, while the presence of overseas brands is growing weaker. Whether BMW iX3 and its peers can break out of fierce market competition remains an open question.

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