FRANKFURT, Oct 29 — German premium carmaker Mercedes-Benz reported plunging third-quarter profit Wednesday, hit by weak sales in China as well as US tariffs.
Net profit at the Stuttgart-based company fell 30.8 per cent to hit €1.19 billion (RM5.8 billion), beating analyst expectations of €1.09 billion in a poll by financial data firm FactSet.
“Our third-quarter results are in line with our full-year guidance,” Mercedes-Benz boss Ola Kaellenius said.
In July, the firm lowered its outlook for the year after US President Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught and said it expected revenue for 2025 to be “significantly below” the 146 billion euros it took in last year.
Car exports from the European Union are subject to a tariff of 15 per cent under an EU-US deal unveiled late, July, down from 27.5 per cent but far higher than the 2.5 per cent in force before Trump launched his trade war in April.
Mercedes-Benz — which has a plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama — also has to grapple with US duties of 25 per cent on imports of car parts that come from outside North America.
Sales by volume in key market China meanwhile fell 27 per cent in the third quarter, helping drag overall sales down 12 per cent.
The country — also the world’s largest car market — has become a battleground for German carmakers amid a brutal price war and fierce competition from local players like BYD.
Kaellenius told analysts and investors on a call that Mercedes was working closely with Chinese self-driving software firm Momenta to make cars competitive for the local market but said a turnaround was “a multi-year task”.
“Looking ahead, we expect the market environment to remain challenging,” he said. “Hyper competition in China is not going away anytime soon.”
Shares in Mercedes rose six per cent as trading got underway in Frankfurt, where trading was overall flat. — AFP
