BERLIN (Reuters) - BMW on Wednesday reported a lower first-quarter profit margin in its automotive segment as persistently higher costs continued to weigh and demand for luxury cars in China remained muted.

The German premium automaker's earnings before taxes (EBT) margin in the car segment fell to 8.8% versus 12.1% in the same period last year and 9.2% expected by analysts in a company-compiled consensus.

(Reporting by Andrey Sychev and Christina Amann, Editing by Rachel More)