Norbert Reithofer will this week become the first chief executive of BMW to go on an investor roadshow as the world’s largest luxury carmaker seeks to deflect worries about its profitability and shed its reputation as an industry laggard.

Mr Reithofer will visit London on Wednesday and New York and Boston on Thursday and Friday to update investors on his efforts to cut costs. He is likely to face pointed questions about the company´s sagging margins compared with its resurgent main rival, Mercedes.