Mercedes-Benz Battles on Two Fronts: Labor Discord and Digital Overhaul as Shares Languish Near Lows
Veröffentlicht: 26.06.2026 um 03:13 Uhr, Redaktion boerse-global.de
Mercedes-Benz is caught between an aggressive push to automate and a simmering fight over working hours — all while its stock flirts dangerously close to a 52-week trough. The German automaker is racing to slash costs through artificial intelligence even as a senior board member calls for longer hours on the factory floor, exposing the deep tensions beneath its turnaround strategy.
Shares closed at €44.72 on Thursday, a hair’s breadth above the €43.99 low hit over the past year. The stock has shed roughly 27% since January, a slide that reflects mounting unease about margins, market share erosion, and a slowdown in China. A small uptick of 0.34% the same day did little to lift the mood — the equity remains almost 19% below its 200-day moving average, with an RSI of 33.3 hovering near oversold territory.
A Digital Push at Scale
To offset pressure on profitability, management is placing a heavy bet on automation. By the end of the year, the company expects 70% of its workforce to use artificial intelligence tools daily. That ambition stands in stark contrast to the situation just 18 months ago, when only 30% of employees were engaged with such platforms. The rollout relies on software from the specialist firm n8n, deployed across production, sales, and human resources.
The initiative gained traction after an internal hackathon drew more than 1,500 participants, generating concrete applications that are now being implemented. The hope is that these digital workflows will deliver measurable efficiency gains, helping to offset mounting costs without squeezing headcount further.
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The Fight Over Hours
Yet any talk of efficiency collides with a separate, more traditional labour debate. Supervisory board chairman Martin Brudermüller recently floated a return to the 40-hour workweek for salaried staff — currently set at 35 hours — as a way to lower labour costs. Works council head Ergun Lümali swiftly rejected the idea, insisting no formal negotiations have begun and that any such move would require no reduction in pay.
The dispute underscores the challenge Mercedes faces in keeping its core business competitive while funding heavy investment in new powertrains. The outcome could shape the company’s cost structure for years, but for now it remains a talking point rather than a concrete proposal.
Squeezed in the Showroom
Meanwhile, the sales picture offers little comfort. In May, new registrations for the Mercedes brand in Europe crept up just 0.6%, while the broader market expanded by 3.6%. That mismatch nudged the brand’s market share down to 4.9%. Chinese rivals such as BYD and US competitor Tesla continue to apply relentless pressure, particularly in the electric segment.
China itself remains a major drag. Brutal competition and subdued demand there weighed heavily on first-quarter results, where the adjusted return on sales in the car business shrank to 4.1% — still within the full-year target range, but leaving little room for error. Growth in Europe and the US only partly compensated for the shortfall.
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Analysts Watch and Wait
Bernstein Research sees the automaker as solidly positioned but warns of its heavy reliance on critical raw materials from China. Analyst Stephen Reitman reiterated a “Market-Perform” rating and a €61 price target, a figure that looks distant from current levels. Near-term attention is fixed on second-quarter margin data, which will test whether the company’s confidence in a higher operating result is justified.
Looking Ahead
For 2026, management projects group revenue roughly flat against the prior year while targeting a clear improvement in operating profit. The medium-term plan calls for selling about two million vehicles annually — a target that hinges squarely on cost cuts and the success of the AI ramp-up. If those gains fail to materialise in the profit line, the stock may have further to fall before finding a floor.
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