DAIMLER AG ADRS/1/4

Mercedes-Benz reported group sales fell to €32.06 billion in Q2, while EBIT rose to €1.55 billion and net income to €1.09 billion. Mercedes‑Benz Cars recorded adjusted EBIT of €909 million and a RoS of 4.0 percent, above analysts' estimates. The vans division increased sales by 5 percent to €4.46 billion and achieved an adjusted operating margin of 10.2 percent. For the full year, Mercedes‑Benz reaffirmed its previous group-level guidance. » More on finanzen.net

A US Senate bill that would ban the import, production and sale of connected vehicles from manufacturers with more than 15% Chinese ownership has cleared a committee hurdle. Mercedes holds just under 10% with BAIC and almost 10% with Li Shufu, but the company stresses no shareholder holds more than 10% and large shareholders do not directly run the business. Mercedes also pointed to about 160,000 US jobs and its plants in Tuscaloosa and Charleston. There were disagreements in the committee over the 15% threshold; the draft allows exemptions by the Commerce Department. » More on finanzen.net

Mercedes-Benz Group (ex Daimler) has highlighted its Kecskemét plant as a key site and a European benchmark for factory costs. The plant was expanded for around one billion euros and, with an annual capacity of up to 400,000, is Hungary’s largest car factory; it could become the largest Mercedes factory in Europe in the future. Mercedes plans to raise the share of production in lower‑wage European countries from 15 to 30 percent; according to the company, production costs in Hungary are about 70 percent below the German level. The A‑Class and GLB are already produced in Kecskemét, and the electric C‑Class will be added; the plant combines flexible combustion/electric lines and a hall for fully electric models. » More on finanzen.net