BERLIN, March 12 (Reuters) - BMW expects group pre-tax earnings to decline moderately this year and deliveries to stagnate, with trade barriers weighing on its core cars business, the company said on Thursday.

Headwinds from higher tariffs will further impact the EBIT margin in the automotive segment by about 1.25 percentage points in 2026, the German premium carmaker said, forecasting a margin in the range of 4 to 6% after 5.3% in 2025.

Group earnings before tax fell by 6.7% last year to 10.2 billion euros ($11.78 billion), and are forecast to fall further in 2026, by between 5 and 9.9%.

Deliveries are to stay on a par with 2025, a year that already saw a sharp sales decline in key market China.

BMW's production presence in the United States - its largest plant is in Spartanburg, South Carolina - has cushioned the blow of U.S. import tariffs somewhat, but it also faces EU tariffs on its Chinese-made electric Mini.

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