By Stephen Wilmot

BMW is navigating the fog of tariffs differently to most companies-including making an assumption they will partially lift.

The German carmaker reiterated Wednesday expectations for its 2025 financial performance that it first laid out in mid-March. That contrasts with most of its peers, which have either suspended their guidance (Ford, Stellantis), cut it $(GM)$ or excluded the impact of President Trump's new tariffs (Volkswagen).

BMW shares rose in Frankfurt, though that also reflected the company's better-than-expected first-quarter results.

How is BMW different?

-- Most notably, the company assumes the tariff burden will get lighter in the second half of the year. Chief Executive Oliver Zipse said he expects the North American free-trading bloc to be revived in some form. "It will take a while until a new negotiation system is put into place, but that is what we assume, because the disadvantages [of today's trade restrictions] are far too big for everybody," he told reporters.

-- The company will benefit from relief measures announced by Trump last week, which include "destacking" multiple tariffs on imports from Mexico. The exemption from levies of up to 15% of parts in U.S.-built cars this year will also help BMW. In 2024, it built roughly 400,000 sports-utility vehicles in Spartanburg, SC.

-- BMW tends to report late in the earnings season, so its previous guidance already incapsulated some of the White House's trade actions, though not the 25% auto tariffs announced late March.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 07, 2025 07:08 ET (11:08 GMT)

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