Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes is putting pressure on the works council and wants to extend the current 35-hour week in Germany to 40 hours without wage compensation to offset high site costs vis‑à‑vis Chinese competitors and cheaper European plants. The move comes amid rising Chinese car exports and European factories as well as low-cost production in Hungary, where Mercedes has already massively expanded capacity. IG Metall rejects the plans and calls for investments to preserve sites, but the company is targeting savings in the high hundreds of millions, which is likely to lead to lower labour costs and affect suppliers and the entire industry. » More on faz.net

Mercedes-Benz is recalling 23,606 vehicles of the GLE series 167 worldwide, including 6,772 in Germany. In diesel and hybrid models produced between August 2022 and September 2025 a splash guard was fitted incorrectly, which can damage the fuel line and cause fuel to leak; the vehicle could suddenly lose drive power. In workshops the shield and fuel line will be inspected and reworked; the visit to the workshop takes about one hour. » More on manager-magazin.de

A proposed US bill (Connected Vehicle Security Act of 2026) could bar the import, production and sale of cars if a manufacturer has more than 15 percent Chinese ownership. Mercedes-Benz, with just under 20 percent Chinese investors — including BAIC (9.98%) and Tenaciou3/Geely (around 9.69%) — is under particular pressure. A US sales ban would hit Mercedes hard: about 163,000 vehicles were sold there in the first half of 2026. The German government and companies are monitoring the process and trying to obtain possible exemptions or solutions, but the legislative outcome remains uncertain. » More on deutschlandfunk.de