Mercedes-Benz (MBG.DE) has no plans to be whipped by Trump's tariffs.
CEO Ola Källenius told Yahoo Finance on a phone call on Monday afternoon that the company has no plans to raise prices to offset the Trump administration’s tariffs. Källenius also said that in the event of uncertainty, the company will not restore the financial outlook that the company had withdrawn a few weeks ago.
"In the current environment, what we decided to do is send a steady signal to our customers, and we are also our business partners," Källenius said. "We will see things develop. We are in a position where we don't have to make hasty decisions about something like this (the price rises), and we won't. So I don't want to take out the crystal ball now and say what the world will look like in six months from now, but our top priority is the U.S. market, which will be long-term growth and taking care of our excellent customer base."
The Trump administration threw a small bone at global automakers a few weeks ago, relaxing some of the 25% tariffs on auto parts.
The new executive order allows auto companies to pay up to 3.75% of the value of assembled vehicles in the U.S. to help offset the first year's tariff costs. In the second year, the rebate will be 2.5%, and then phased in the third year.
Read more: Latest news and latest news about Trump tariffs
More than half of the 374,000 cars sold in the U.S. last year, the company said. According to the German Automobile Association VDA, about 13% of German automobiles are exported to the United States rather than to other countries.
Källenius added that Mercedes will start producing its best-selling GLC SUV at its factory in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in order to generate some tariffs locally and some tariffs locally.
Mercedes-Benz said in a challenging background that profits fell 43% in the first quarter a year ago to 1.73 billion euros. Revenue fell 7.4% year-on-year to 33.22 billion euros.
The company's car sales fell 4% in the first quarter. Despite North American sales up 1%, Europe fell 7% and China fell 10%, masking secondary earnings.
"No," Källenius will resume guidance when receiving more clarity on tariffs. “We decided to say on the first call that it almost feels new information every day or weekly, and if you don’t have to change your mind four times in a month, that makes no sense.”