STORY: BMW expects a slight drop in pre-tax profit this year.It cites higher research and development, personnel and manufacturing costs.It also sees a fall in used car prices as contributing to the decline.The German auto giant on Wednesday (May 8) reported a fall in its first-quarter profit margin in the automotive segment.It blamed persistently higher costs weighing on its bottom line, while demand for luxury cars in China was muted.The automaker's pre-tax margin in the car segment fell to 8.8% from 12.1% a year earlier - below analyst forecasts. First-quarter revenue dropped slightly despite a slight rise in car sales.Q1 group pre-tax profit fell just under 19% to $4.40 billion, but beat analyst forecasts.Sales of fully electric cars rose 28% to 83,000 vehicles during the period.BMW is investing heavily in EVs and model revamps across its line-up.It expects record spending this year, up from more than $8 billion last year.BMW rivals Mercedes Benz and Porsche have also spent big.German carmakers want to tackle growing competition in the EV market from China and Tesla.BMW shares were down over 3% after the update.