Mercedes pulls earnings guidance amid Trump tariff uncertainty

Mercedes-Benz on Wednesday pulled its earnings guidance for 2025 amid uncertainty about the effects of US President Donald Trump's tariffs on car imports as the German carmaker posted a sharply lower first-quarter profit.

“Mercedes-Benz is a global player, we don't fear competition in any direction,” CEO Ola Källenius told analysts. “But that's not the environment we're operating in.”

He said “constructive” talks with the Trump administration about boosting Mercedes' US manufacturing presence were ongoing but declined to provide details.

CFO Harald Wilhelm told analysts, given the uncertainty about tariffs, full-year guidance “cannot be provided today with a reliable degree of certainty”.

He said if tariffs remained in place all year it would reduce profit margins by 300 basis points on cars and 100 basis points on vans.

Mercedes faces challenges in all its major markets, from Trump's tariffs to competition from fast-moving rivals in China and new CO2 emissions targets in the EU.

It joins a growing number of carmakers pulling their annual forecasts.

Stellantis also said on Wednesday it was suspending its guidance. On Tuesday, Volvo Cars withdrew its earnings forecast for the next two years, citing uncertainty over the tariffs.

Meanwhile, German rival Volkswagen on Wednesday posted a steep drop in first-quarter profit and said it expected its annual operating profit margin at the lower end of guidance.

Mercedes told analysts at the end of March it had been stockpiling inventory in the US to mitigate the effect of tariffs.

The premium carmaker's car and van sales dropped 7% in the first quarter, led by 10% declines in Europe and China, though sales were up 1% in the US market.

The company's sales fell 3% last year, led by a 7% drop in China.

Mercedes reported a first-quarter profit margin for its car business of 7.3%, down from 9% in the same period last year.

Group earnings before interest and taxes plunged 41% year-on-year to €2.3bn (R48.74bn) in the quarter.

As part of its bid to regain lost market share in China, Mercedes last week unveiled a new all-electric luxury limousine van series called “Vision V” at the Shanghai car show.