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FRANKFURT, June 17 (Reuters) - Shares in BMW BMWG.DE fell 8% in early Frankfurt trade after the premium automaker late on Tuesday issued a profit warning that some analysts said signalled a broader strategic rethink.

The company blamed ongoing weakness in China and the impact from the Iran war on prices and customer sentiment, with analysts at Deutsche Bank and Jefferies both saying the outlook cut was significantly larger than expected.

Alongside the outlook cut, which has taken the group's operating auto margin down to 1-3% from 4-6% previously, BMW also said it would intensify cost-cutting measures, only saying these would cause a negative one-off in the second half of 2026.

Jefferies analysts said the comments suggested the overhaul "will largely impact German operations and may address a global assembly footprint business model that is still largely centered on exporting ICE powertrain components from Germany".