Mercedes-Benz Faces a Three-Front October: Washington, Works Councils and the Paris Stage

Mercedes-Benz stock hit a 52-week low of EUR 39.70, down 34% this year, ahead of Q3 results on 28 October and a delayed US Senate vote in November.

Mercedes-Benz has entered the final stretch of a year that has shaved more than a third off its market value, and the coming weeks will test whether management's twin levers — financial engineering and cost discipline — can steady the ship. The Stuttgart automaker's shares closed Friday's Xetra session at EUR 39.90, a 34% decline since the start of the year, with a fresh 52-week low of EUR 39.70 touched during the same session.

The next hard data point arrives on 28 October, when the group publishes its interim report for the third quarter of 2026 alongside a conference call on the Q3 results. Investors are looking to that release for evidence that cost measures already set in motion are feeding through to earnings power, particularly after production chief Michael Schiebe pressed employee representatives on the need for savings, with Reuters citing weakness in China and higher US tariffs as the drags on performance.

A Legislative Clock Ticking in Washington

One source of pressure sits outside the company's control. Backers of a US Senate bill targeting vehicles with Chinese-linked ownership have pushed a vote back to November, according to Reuters. The draft would impose restrictions on carmakers in which Chinese shareholders hold more than 15% — a threshold Mercedes exceeds, with passive Chinese participation reported at just under 20%. Republican co-sponsor Bernie Moreno said talks are under way to ensure the manufacturer is not shut out of US sales. The delay buys time, but it also lays bare the geopolitical exposure that comes with running a globally distributed business.

Works Council Talks on Attendance and Severance

Closer to home, the group is negotiating a new company-wide works agreement that would let managers require full-time staff to be on site up to four days a week without giving a reason, Reuters reported. The relevant works council bodies have yet to sign off; if agreement is reached, the rule is expected to take effect on 1 January 2027.

Running in parallel is a fresh push on headcount. Mercedes plans to revive its severance programme for administrative staff, with the voluntary offer for employees in indirect functions in Germany expected to be reissued in December. Individual offers are envisaged for collectively bargained staff and, in some cases, executives, with any exit contingent on mutual agreement. The company has not disclosed how many positions it aims to cut.

Buybacks, BlackRock and a Trimmed Target

Management continues to lean on capital measures to shore up confidence. Roughly a week ago the automaker repurchased 895,000 of its own shares — a stretch during which the stock has since slipped 3.8% — lifting the September total to 2,976,805 shares. On the shareholder register, the world's largest asset manager, BlackRock, nudged its voting-rights stake slightly higher to 6.04%, according to regulatory filings.

Analysts, meanwhile, have been recalibrating. On 29 September, Deutsche Bank Research cut its price target on Mercedes-Benz to EUR 70 from EUR 73 while keeping its rating at "Buy."

Paris as the Product Counterweight

Against that unsettled backdrop, the company is preparing a show of product momentum. At the Paris Motor Show, running 12–18 October, Mercedes will stage several premieres, among them new generations of the GLA and GLE, the AMG CLA 45, the four-door AMG GT and the fully electric VLE. The official press conference is scheduled for 12 October at 14:45 CEST.

Whether that line-up, the 28 October figures and the cost steps now being negotiated can together arrest the downward drift is the question the market will spend the rest of the autumn answering.