The German carmaker BMW has issued its second profit warning in a year, blaming the costs of a restructuring programme including significant job losses in the face of continuing competition from China.

The company is the latest to issue a profit downgrade in the German car sector, after Mercedes-Benz last week cut its profit outlook. Western automakers have struggled to keep pace with lower-cost Chinese rivals, which has led to reduced sales in China and a rise in Chinese exports to Europe .

BMW signalled a potential for losses after slashing its profit margin to between -0.5% and 0.5% this year and blamed fourth-quarter costs tied to the restructuring that includes 8,000 job cuts in its home market . At the beginning of the year, BMW had considered a margin of 4-6% would be possible.

It reported an 11% drop in third-quarter pre-tax earnings on Wednesday to €2.1bn (£1.75bn).…