Mercedes-Benz Pushes Workers on Pay and Hours as Shares Sink to 2026 Low
Published on 06/27/2026 at 15:06 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The pressure cooker that is Germany’s auto industry is venting steam through Stuttgart. Mercedes-Benz, already nursing a bruised stock and anaemic margins, has unveiled a sweeping cost-cutting programme that hits the 90,000-strong domestic workforce directly. The company’s first-quarter numbers set the stage: revenue slid nearly 5% year-on-year to €31.6 billion, operating profit barely scraped €1.9 billion, and the core car division managed a meagre 4.1% adjusted return on sales.
Management’s first salvo targets a long-agreed bonus. The so-called “transformation component” — an annual cash payment worth 18.4% of each employee’s monthly salary — was due in July 2026 but will now land in 2027. In a parallel move, the board is opening talks with the works council to extend working hours beyond the current 35-hour week without any extra pay. The rationale, laid out in a letter to staff, is blunt: structural labour costs at German plants are no longer internationally competitive. Development, sales, administration and production are all in the frame.
Investors responded by dumping the stock. Mercedes-Benz shares lost over 3% on Friday, closing at €43.27 — a whisker above their 52-week low and the deepest point of a year that has already erased nearly 30% of the company’s market value. The technical picture is equally downbeat: the relative strength index sits at 29, deep in oversold territory, while the share price now trades more than 21% below its 200-day moving average. History suggests a snapback is possible, but the sector’s headwinds make any recovery uncertain.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Mercedes-Benz?
China remains the biggest drag. Although Mercedes-Benz shifted 419,000 vehicles in the first quarter, gains in Europe and the US only partly offset the sharp pullback in the world’s largest car market. The top-end luxury segment held up better than the group average, but that offers scant comfort for a company that depends on premium margins. So far, management is sticking to its full-year forecast: revenue flat with 2025, EBIT “significantly” above the prior year, and industrial free cash flow slightly below.
The market will get its next read on the company’s trajectory when Mercedes-Benz hosts a pre-close call on 14 July, followed by the full second-quarter results on 28 July. For now, the message from Stuttgart is clear — the emergency brake has been pulled, and the workforce is being asked to share the cost of slowing down.
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