European motorways, including Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis and Volkswagen, said on Wednesday that the chaos and turmoil caused by the invoices introduced by President Trump had left them struggling to evaluate the impact and incompetent to plan for the future.
After years of sluggish demand and high inflation, Europe’s 2025 highways with a series of new battery models and high hopes that they will entice customers.
Instead, they face global uncertainty about supply chains and customer demand, which began with Mr Trump’s decision to impose 25 % invoices on all cars, steel and aluminum entering the United States.
On Wednesday, Mercedes-Benz suspended its financial forecasts for 2025, as well as Stelantis, which includes Fiat, Peugeot and Opel among its trademarks in Europe and Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep in the United States.
“The current volatility in terms of pricing policies, mitigation measures and potential direct and indirect impacts, in particular on customer behavior and demand, is too high to reliably evaluate business growth for the rest of the year,” Mercedes-Benz said in a statement on Wednesday.
Stelantis said “the evolution of customs invoices, as well as the difficulty in predicting their potential market impact and competitive landscape” for his decision.
Volkswagen Group, the largest automotive industry in Europe, has decided not to abolish its prospects for 2025, but instead reduced its profit expectations to the lower end of its prediction to 5 and 6 %. The company, which holds Audi, Porsche and the Volkswagen brand, warned that the initial calculations had been made before the invoices were introduced in early April.
All three companies have factories in the United States. Mr Trump announced on Tuesday the changes in invoices to what is called “little flexibility” to car manufacturers producing cars in the United States and are concerned about the losses of import taxes to their business.
According to the latest edition, motorways paid 25 percent invoices for car imports are not subject to other contributions, such as steel and aluminum or some imports from Canada and Mexico. However, the rules do not seem to protect automakers from steel and aluminum invoices that their suppliers pay and can transfer them.
The leading team representing the German automakers welcomed Mr Trump, but called it “a small step” that only slightly facilitates the weight caused by invoices.
German car manufacturers operating in the United States have been removed from the imposition of import taxes on parts and vehicles from Canada and Mexico, where many have established businesses after Mr Trump’s re -examination in free agreement with these countries during his first term.
“Companies are urgently needed to be more clarified to evaluate the exact impact and implement measures with legal certainty,” said Hildegard Müller, president of the German Union of the automotive industry.
Porsche was among the German trademarks affected harder than invoices. It is based on the US market for 40 % of its sales, but manufactures its sports cars exclusively in Germany, leaving it strongly exposed to duties.
The sad performance of the car manufacturer during the first three months of the year destroyed its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, which said on Wednesday that its profits were reduced more than 40 percent in the first quarter.
Even before Mr Trump introduced invoices, Volkswagen’s basic brands fought against high costs and excessive capacity in Germany plants, as well as increasing pressure from Chinese competitors flooding the European market despite increased import taxes voted by the European Union.
Volkswagen carries cars, including Electric ID.4, at a factory in Chattanooga, Tenn., And manufactures a factory in South Carolina to produce off -road vehicles under the scout trademark. Audi produces cars in Europe and Mexico, as well as in Europe, but not in the United States. Oliver Blume, chief executive of Volkswagen, said the company is considering shifting the construction of another of its Chattanooga models to avoid invoices.
The German media reported that Mr Blume and his Mercedes-Benz counterparts and BMW met with Mr Trump in an attempt to process an agreement. German automakers and suppliers employ about 138,000 people in the United States, according to the German trade team of the industry.
Invoices cause other European manufacturers to review their strategy in the United States. The British automaker Aston Martin said on Wednesday that it was holding imports to the United States due to invoices. Instead, the company plans to use the existing stock already sent, the company’s chief executive said in a statement. Jaguar Land Rover also said she is playing missions in the United States.
