BMW says to continue short working hours in H2

German carmaker BMW will continue its short working hours programme in its German plants in the second half of this year, a company spokesman said on Thursday.

Around 17,000 workers are expected to be affected by the move at the plants in Dingolfing, Munich, Berlin and Landshut, he said.

In August, as usual, BMW will stop production for three to four weeks.

In September and October the programme to reduce working hours will be stopped in Dingolfing because of the production start of the new Gran Turismo vehicle but it will be resumed in November and December.

Sales of the group's BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce cars fell in total by 18.3 percent in May and for the first five months sales were down 21.1 percent at 487,906 vehicles.