Mercedes-Benz Names New IT Chief as China Headwinds and US Legislation Cloud the Horizon
Published on 08/07/2026 at 14:42 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The Stuttgart automaker is reshuffling its technology leadership at a moment when its share price is trading near multi-year lows and its largest market outside Europe is contracting sharply. Jonas von Malottki will take over as global Chief Information Officer on October 1, 2026, succeeding Katrin Lehmann, who is leaving the company at her own request. An interim CIO will bridge the gap during September. Von Malottki joins from Mitsubishi-Fuso in Japan, where he had served as CIO since June 2025.
The leadership change lands against a bruising stretch for the stock. On Friday, shares traded at EUR 46.78, down 0.16 percent on the day, leaving the equity down 22.41 percent since the start of the year. The decline reflects a second quarter that laid bare the depth of the company's troubles in China, where deliveries collapsed by 30 percent in the April-to-June period.
China Slump Forces Guidance Cut, But Underlying Beat Offers Some Relief
The scale of the Chinese downturn is stark. Over the first half, deliveries to the country fell 28 percent to 210,200 vehicles, while group-wide passenger car sales slipped 7 percent to 837,200 units. Weak consumer demand, intense price competition, and ongoing model changeovers all contributed to the slide. Finance chief Harald Wilhelm responded by trimming the 2026 sales forecast for passenger cars to around 1.7 million units, down from the 1.8 million delivered in the prior year.
Yet the numbers were not uniformly grim. Adjusted for China-related charges and other one-off items, operating profit came in at EUR 2.3 billion — comfortably ahead of the EUR 1.65 billion consensus estimate. The unadjusted picture tells a more sobering story: group revenue fell to EUR 32.06 billion, while reported EBIT improved to EUR 1.55 billion, dragged down by a EUR 704 million impairment on the company's China investment. The passenger car division's adjusted EBIT dropped by a quarter to EUR 909 million, though its adjusted margin of 4.0 percent still topped the 3.5 percent analysts had penciled in. Management reaffirmed its full-year margin guidance of 3.0 to 5.0 percent, even as it conceded that both passenger car sales and group revenue for 2026 would now come in slightly below, rather than in line with, last year's levels.
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The truck business provided a partial cushion. Mercedes-Benz generated roughly EUR 417 million in the second quarter from selling Daimler Truck shares, bringing total disposals to EUR 1 billion. Its remaining stake has now shrunk from 37.6 percent to just under 35 percent — a holding that increasingly functions as a capital source rather than a strategic core asset.
Washington Legislation Adds a Political Dimension
Beyond the operational challenges, a legislative threat is taking shape in the United States. In late July, the US Senate Commerce Committee approved a tightened version of the "Motor Vehicle Modernization Act of 2026," which would impose a 15 percent ownership threshold for Chinese shareholders. Mercedes-Benz's two largest individual investors — Chinese state-owned BAIC with 9.98 percent and Geely founder Li Shufu with 9.69 percent — together hold 19.67 percent, putting the company theoretically above the proposed limit. A separate draft, the "Connected Vehicle Security Act of 2026," cleared the Senate Commerce Committee on July 22 and carries similar implications.
Senator Moreno has indicated the company would have until 2030 to comply and could also apply for an exemption. In a pointed exchange, Senator Cruz accused General Motors of backing the measure to push Mercedes-Benz out of the US market — a charge GM denied. CEO Ola Källenius has publicly pledged to protect the company's American business, stating that if adjustments are needed to comply with any regulation, the company will ensure its US presence and operations are safeguarded. Bloomberg reports that Mercedes-Benz is also working behind the scenes to soften the legislation.
On the operational front, the company is already adapting: the best-selling GLC crossover will now also be built in Vance, Alabama, to reduce tariff exposure. Sales chief Mathias Geisen conceded, however, that the company cannot currently compensate for the lost volume in China.
Analysts Split on Recovery Path
The post-earnings analyst response has been mixed. Goldman Sachs raised its price target on Monday from EUR 65 to EUR 67, maintaining a "Buy" rating. Analyst Christian Frenes lifted his 2026 EBIT estimate on the strength of the financial services division, though he trimmed expectations for the core passenger car business on cost pressures and China headwinds.
The DZ Bank struck a more cautious tone, keeping its "Buy" rating but cutting its fair value from EUR 60 to EUR 55. Analyst Michael Punzet cited the severe pressure on the passenger car business in China, even as vans, financial services, and cash flow remained convincing — prompting him to slash revenue and profit forecasts through 2028. Bernstein Research and Berenberg both trimmed their price targets to EUR 56 in late July, with "Market-Perform" and "Hold" ratings respectively.
New Models and a Silver Lining in Electrification
The company is betting on fresh metal to turn the tide. On Tuesday, it unveiled the next-generation GLA compact SUV, which will consolidate combustion and electric variants under a single nameplate — retiring the EQA badge. European orders opened on July 30, with the first electric models due from November. For China, a GLC L variant is planned for the core segment. The picture is less smooth for the already-launched electric GLC from the Bremen plant, where production ramp-up is stalling due to shortages of batteries and wiring harnesses despite strong demand.
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One bright spot: battery-electric vehicle sales jumped 51 percent in the quarter to 52,900 units, buoyed by robust European demand. The van division continued to serve as the group's earnings anchor, posting an adjusted return on sales of 10.2 percent.
Buybacks Continue as Investors Await Q3
The share repurchase program remains on track. With supervisory board approval, management is authorized to buy back up to 96 million shares for a total of up to EUR 2 billion between November 3, 2025, and November 3, 2026. The stock closed Thursday at EUR 46.86, down 1.21 percent, leaving it 22.29 percent lower year-to-date and 12.31 percent below its 200-day moving average.
All eyes now turn to the third-quarter interim report, scheduled for October 28, which should reveal whether the Chinese weakness is abating and how the US legislative risk is evolving.
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