Mercedes-Benz Outsources Conecto Bus Production to Otokar as Buybacks and Wayve Deal Offset 31% Share Price Slide
Published on 09/26/2026 at 12:20 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Mercedes-Benz has handed series production of its Conecto city bus to Turkish manufacturer Otokar, with the first units rolling off the line at the Sakarya plant on Thursday. The arrangement, agreed last year, sees Daimler Buses supply all major components and dedicated production equipment for the model, while customer deliveries are slated to begin in the first half of 2027. The move forms part of a broader effort to make cost structures more flexible and manage capacity more deliberately across the commercial vehicle and bus divisions.
That outsourcing push runs alongside a deepening technology bet at the Stuttgart group's core passenger-car brand. On Tuesday, Mercedes-Benz signed a binding series-production agreement with London-based specialist Wayve, whose "AI Driver" system is set to appear in Mercedes vehicles within the next two years. The technology delivers point-to-point driving assistance on highways and in urban settings without relying on high-resolution map data. Mercedes had already taken part in a Wayve financing round back in February.
Capital Returns and Cost Pressure at Home
Management is simultaneously leaning on its balance sheet to support the share price. A new buyback program launched on September 1 targets up to EUR 1 billion, or a maximum of 58 million shares, to be purchased on the market and subsequently cancelled by April 6, 2027. The scheme follows a EUR 2 billion program that wrapped up in June. Under the current effort, 916,805 shares were repurchased between September 7 and September 11 inclusive, bringing the cumulative total since the September 1 start to 1,606,805 shares.
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At home, the picture is far less comfortable. Reuters, citing a WirtschaftsWoche report published Thursday, said Mercedes-Benz is planning to cut labor costs in Germany by EUR 800 million. Measures under negotiation include longer working hours without extra pay, along with financial adjustments to holiday and Christmas bonuses. The savings drive follows management's assessment that domestic production is no longer competitive internationally. Should the required reductions fail to materialize, two German plants face the threat of closure — a prospect that points to a period of tangible sacrifices for the workforce as the company seeks to protect its margins.
Analysts Stay on the Sidelines
Sentiment in the markets remains cautious. Bernstein Research on Wednesday reaffirmed its "Market-Perform" rating with a price target of EUR 56. Berenberg had already trimmed its target for the stock from EUR 56 to EUR 52 on September 16, keeping its recommendation at "Hold." Analyst Romain Gourvil pointed to a lack of positive catalysts and persistent difficulties in the Chinese market. Back in late July, management revised its annual guidance and now expects total revenue for 2026 to come in slightly below the prior-year level.
The share closed Friday's session at EUR 41.59, down 31% since the start of the year, after touching a fresh 52-week low of EUR 41.05 during the day. Weaker demand in China, a key sales region, is doing much of the damage to expectations for a swift recovery in margins. Whether the planned cuts can be pushed through without a protracted clash with labor representatives will be the decisive factor shaping the group's fundamental trajectory in the months ahead.
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