The economic crisis threatening to topple global automakers rocked two of Europe's biggest on Thursday as BMW posted a surprise fourth-quarter loss and Volkswagen warned of worse ahead, according to Reuters. Shares in BMW, the world's largest premium carmaker, were down over 11 percent at one point, after it posted quarterly earnings sharply under estimates, before recovering to trade down 3.66 percent at 1152 GMT. The results showed earnings before interest and tax of 921 million euros ($1.18 billion) compared with a Reuters Estimate of 1.536 billion euros and down from 4.2 billion euros last year. Net profit came in at 330 million euros after the disastrous quarter, well below a Reuters Estimate average of 1.047 billion euros, and, as a result, the company proposed cutting its dividend to 30 cents per share. German peer VW, meanwhile, warned 2009 would be one of the hardest in its history. Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn said he still expected Europe's largest automaker to make a profit in 2009, but reiterated that vehicle sales, revenue and earnings would all decline. "A difficult 2009 lies ahead of us -- one the most difficult years in our company's history," he said. Volkswagen shares had edged up 0.74 percent by 1152 GMT against a DJ Stoxx European Autos index down 1.81 percent.
