It was an attempt to make the Mercedes shareholders a little more gracious. At the start of his speech at the virtual general meeting, Ola Källenius presented himself as a “Mercedes sees me”: in a shadow tear made of colorful, horizontal lines against dark background. The demonstration of how the sensors will lead a car from the Baden-Württemberg manufacturer in the future should show that the company is prepared for the future-despite the currently difficult situation. The technical gimmick, however, impressed the investors – in view of the well -returned profit in the first quarter and above all the uncertain prospects, the representatives of institutional investors sharply criticized the board of the manufacturer. “Mercedes is simply a luxurious on the stock exchange. Wish and reality are constantly apart,” explained Ingo Save of Deka Invest. Now the company reacts to the current demand problems and overcapacity with a savings program. “But ultimately you have to get attractive cars on the street, you cannot constantly compensate for the poor in sales with savings programs,” said Speich in his speech. “A young board team and an adapted strategy should now judge it. You are now putting everything on one card, it is your final chance.” “A crash with an announcement” Moritz Kronenberger from Union Investment’s situation of Mercedes. Sales, sales, margin, free cash flow and profit are “in a descent” and consequently also the share price and the dividend. “And it is not a purely cyclical decline in business. It is a crash with an announcement,” said Kronenberger. “China does not run,” Electric only “is not running, USA is not running.” In addition, the hope of being able to compensate for falling paragraphs in China through increasing sales in the USA will be destroyed by Trump’s tariffs. In addition to the problems of Mercedes in China and the criticism of the luxury strategy that the manufacturer presented in May 2022, the questions of the shareholders were repeatedly about the effects of the new customs policy of US President Donald Trump on the business of Mercedes. Roland Klose from the protection association for securities ownership (DSW) asked what Mercedes boss Källenius achieved during his visit to Trump in the White House on April 18. “How flexible is Mercedes able to react to this short-term impression of the tariffs? Is the willingness to manufacture another model in the USA from 2027?” Asked Klose. The manufacturer had confirmed a few days ago in Tuscaloosa in the US state of Alabama a new car adapted to US customer, producing, with the middle-class segment, with which it should be the GLC. Klose was particularly concerned about “business development this year because of the fear of the board of directors”. Because of the unsafe prospects, Mercedes had completely withdrawn his annual forecast in the past week when the figures were announced. “The times when German premium and luxury manufacturers in China were toned are obviously over,” said Schmidt. Even if Mercedes is not allowed to go into a price competition, the question arises. “How attractive is the Chinese market assessed in the medium term? How in particular the board evaluates the increasing local competition, the regulatory uncertainties on site and the consumer behavior there?” Asked Schmidt. More tact DWS representative also criticized the current board of directors. In one year, “which is associated with a 15 percent lower share price for our shareholders and a significant decline in results”, the remuneration of CEO Källenius remains only insignificantly under the maximum remuneration. “In the future we expect a higher level of sensitivity so that the remuneration will not be decoupled from the performance in the sense of a real pay-for-performance principle,” said Schmidt. “In the currently tense environment, such a remuneration rule can be perceived increasingly socially unbalanced.” In their answers to the critical questions, the chairman of the supervisory board Martin Brudermüller and CEO Ola Källenius repeatedly referred to the product offensive that must run with the CLA this year. “With the model, we presented the one-liter car of electromobility to the world public in March,” explained Brudermüller. “This car will shape a new era.” Källenius called the car a “piece of the puzzle of a comprehensive renewal – we will present dozens of new vehicles” by 2027. More on the topic despite the hope of the new cars, the view is dark. “If the current trade policy will remain so, we expect profit and free cash flow to be negatively influenced,” said Källenius to the US tariffs. “And the current volatility is too high to reliably assess business development for the rest of the year.” The Mercedes boss did not comment on the question of whether he had achieved anything in his conversation with Trump. And he didn’t come back to the sensors of his initial speech either.
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