Profit at Mercedes breaks up by more than half

The win from Mercedes-Benz broke up by more than half in the first half of the year. Compared to the same period last year, the group result dropped by 55.8 percent from around 6.1 billion euros to around 2.7 billion euros, as the car manufacturer announced. As reasons for this, the Stuttgart led to tariffs, lower sales figures and expenses for efficiency measures.

With a view to the current financial year, Mercedes now calculated well below the previous year with a group turnover. The adjusted sales return of the car division should only be between four and six percent in 2025. In the already weak last year, it was 8.1 percent. Sales are also likely to be significantly lower.

In the first half of the year, sales fell 8.6 percent from 72.6 billion euros to around 66.4 billion euros. The operational result (EBIT) decreased by around 55 percent from 7.9 billion euros to around 3.6 billion euros.

Mercedes-Benz had already had a significant drop in profits in the past financial year. Especially because of the poorly running business in China. In 2024, the group result was a good 28 percent to EUR 10.4 billion. Sales fell by 4.5 percent to 145.6 billion euros in the year. The result from interest and taxes slipped by almost a third to 13.6 billion euros.

In order to increase the profitability and sales again in the next few years, the board had proclaimed a savings program in February. According to this, production costs should decrease by ten percent compared to today. In addition, the material costs would be optimized, and the fixed costs should also decrease by a further ten percent by 2027.

With the general works council, the company agreed on an extensive package of measures that also provides for a severance payment program for employees in indirect areas, i.e. not in production.