Mercedes-Benz Slides Toward 52-Week Low as China's 31% Collapse Overshadows Electric Gains

Mercedes-Benz stock slid 2.6% to EUR 39.48 after Q3 deliveries fell 8%, with China sales down 31%, despite a 61% jump in BEV shipments.

Mercedes-Benz shares reversed early gains to trade 2.6% lower at EUR 39.48 on Wednesday, leaving the stock hovering just above its recent 52-week trough of EUR 39.41. The retreat followed third-quarter delivery figures that laid bare the widening gap between the Stuttgart automaker's battery-electric momentum and its crumbling position in Asia.

Worldwide passenger-car shipments fell 8% to 407,200 units in the three months through September 2026. China, the company's single most important market, accounted for the bulk of that decline: sales there collapsed 31% to 86,800 vehicles, underscoring the mounting pressure on European premium brands across the region. The Handelsblatt reported this week that the slump has now reached a scale capable of threatening the profit targets of Germany's largest carmakers.

A Rare Bright Spot Beneath the Headline Numbers

Battery-electric deliveries provided the one unambiguous positive in the quarterly tally. Global BEV shipments jumped 61% year on year to 68,400 units — a surge that nonetheless proved too small to offset the contraction in combustion-engine volumes during the period.

Sentiment had already been dented before the delivery data landed. Citi cut its price target on the stock on Monday to EUR 42 from EUR 51, keeping a "Neutral" rating, with the US bank pointing to rising earnings risks for European manufacturers in the second half of 2026.

The stock's midweek slide contrasts sharply with Tuesday's session, when the shares changed hands at EUR 41.28, up 1.8%, as selling pressure that had weighed on the quote earlier in the week began to ease.

Pre-Close Call Puts Asia Back in the Spotlight

Attention now turns to Thursday, when Mercedes-Benz Group hosts a pre-close call for investors and analysts — a session designed to summarize publicly available trends and the broader framework of the third quarter ahead of detailed results.

Asia will dominate that discussion. Analyst Tim Rokossa has described the Chinese market as the single biggest structural challenge facing the manufacturer. His assessment came with a caveat for the wider sector: the coming third-quarter reporting season is unlikely to fundamentally rewrite the overarching narrative for European automakers.

Caution among market participants has been reinforced by gloomy ifo business-climate data and relentless competition from Chinese manufacturers, keeping the stock firmly under scrutiny.

Cost Cuts, Buybacks and Steering by Wire

Back in Germany, the cost base is under the microscope. Management is reportedly examining savings of as much as EUR 800 million in home-market labor costs, with longer working weeks without additional pay and adjustments to collectively agreed bonus payments among the options on the table. At a works meeting, the board stressed that employee concessions are unavoidable, though Mercedes-Benz declined to confirm specific figures, citing ongoing negotiations.

Alongside the restructuring push, the company is courting shareholders. Between September 28 and October 2, it repurchased 875,000 of its own shares, lifting the total bought back since the program began on September 1 to 3,851,805. A newly launched voluntary severance scheme for German employees is expected to start in December, covering indirect functions and parts of the management ranks.

On the product side, Mercedes-Benz is leaning on technological differentiation to shore up its portfolio. The electric EQS luxury sedan now features a steer-by-wire system that eliminates the mechanical link between the steering wheel and the front axle.

Tomorrow's pre-close call will give market participants their next read on the operating picture before the definitive quarterly figures arrive.