Mercedes-Benz Expands Buyback While Broadening Its Voluntary Exit Net

Mercedes-Benz repurchased 895,000 shares in late September and plans December voluntary severance offers that will include senior executives.

Mercedes-Benz kept two of its levers in motion during the final week of September, repurchasing another 895,000 of its own shares while preparing a fresh round of voluntary severance offers that will, for the first time, reach into the management ranks.

The Stuttgart automaker disclosed in a mandatory filing that it bought back 895,000 shares between September 21 and September 25, 2026, spending EUR 38,084,349.00 on the transactions. That lifted the cumulative volume acquired from September 1 through September 25 to 2,976,805 shares. The buyback program, which management has framed as a signal of confidence in its own balance sheet, is running against a difficult market backdrop.

A Share Price Testing Yearly Lows

The stock finished Friday's session at EUR 39.90, hovering just above the 52-week low of EUR 39.70 touched on October 2. Since the start of the year, the equity has shed 34 percent of its value. The persistent weakness has not gone unnoticed by the analyst community: Deutsche Bank Research trimmed its price target on Tuesday from EUR 73 to EUR 70, though it left its "Buy" rating on the stock intact.

In a separate regulatory filing dated September 25, asset manager BlackRock raised its total voting rights stake, including instruments, to 6.04 percent.

Severance Offers Reach Leadership for the First Time

The capital-market measures coincide with a deepening internal overhaul. Mercedes-Benz plans to launch a voluntary severance program in December for employees outside direct production, and the scope marks a notable escalation. For the first time, senior executives will be offered exit packages alongside collectively bargained staff. The company announced the plan to its German workforce by email, aiming to cut administrative personnel costs structurally without resorting to compulsory redundancies.

The move responds to sustained market weakness in China and broader global pressures. Management had already pressed roughly 5,000 employees at Stuttgart-Untertürkheim for meaningful savings. Production chief Michael Schiebe, speaking at a works meeting in Sindelfingen, made the stakes explicit: without cost reductions, closures of a German assembly plant and a powertrain facility could loom. Even so, he said the stated goal remains preserving every domestic site.

Attendance Rules and a January Deadline

Working patterns are shifting as well. Under a planned works agreement reported by Reuters, managers would be permitted to mandate up to four on-site days per week for full-time staff. If the works council bodies sign off, the measure is slated to take effect on January 1, 2027.

Continuity in After-Sales

While the administrative apparatus is being streamlined, Mercedes-Benz is holding steady with key suppliers. On October 1, FUCHS SE and group subsidiary Mercedes-Benz Global Services & Parts extended their partnership for lubricant solutions. The cooperation covers the worldwide after-sales network, securing the supply of approved operating fluids for workshops and customers.

Third-Quarter Report on the Horizon

Whether the cost programs can restore investor confidence should become clearer before the month is out. Mercedes-Benz Group plans to publish its interim report for the third quarter of 2026 on October 28, 2026, followed by an analyst conference. Detailed figures on margin and unit sales will reveal how heavily headwinds in core markets have weighed on the numbers.

Meanwhile, the steady repurchases continue to shrink the number of shares outstanding. Whether the buyback volume is enough to durably cushion selling pressure depends largely on progress in the internal restructuring talks.