FRANKFURT: German carmaker Mercedes-Benz on Wednesday (Feb 11) reported its lowest annual revenue because the COVID-19 pandemic, because it counted the price of US tariffs and cut-throat competitors in China.
Internet revenue for 2025 was 5.3 billion euros (US$6.3 billion), Mercedes mentioned, down virtually 49 per cent on the 2024 determine, however higher than had been anticipated in a ballot of analysts by monetary information agency FactSet.
“Amid a dynamic market setting, our monetary outcomes remained inside our steerage,” Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kaellenius mentioned, including that he noticed hope in over 40 new mannequin launches deliberate over the subsequent three years.
“We’re shifting ahead with a transparent recreation plan and a really aggressive product portfolio,” he mentioned.
The agency expects a equally tough 2026, with income projected to be round final yr’s stage of 132.2 billion euros however core revenue “considerably above” the 2025 determine, due to one-off restructuring prices falling away.
However at its core automobile enterprise, Mercedes sees a revenue margin this yr of between 3 and 5 per cent – weaker than the 5 per cent it achieved this yr.
A storied firm that traces its historical past again to Carl Benz inventing the primary motor automobile in 1885, Mercedes-Benz was dealing with a triple whammy of cratering gross sales in China, stagnant demand in Europe and the prices of investing into electrical vehicles regardless of patchy demand even earlier than US President Donald Trump last year hit foreign carmakers with tariffs.
China, the world’s largest automobile market, has change into a battleground for German carmakers amid a brutal worth struggle and fierce competitors from native gamers like BYD and Geely.
Mercedes-Benz’s gross sales by quantity in China plunged 19 per cent final yr to their lowest stage since 2016, serving to drag total worldwide gross sales down by 10 per cent.
