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European car makers, including Mercedes -Benz, Stelins and Volkswagen, said on Wednesday that chaos and turmoil caused by the customs tariff brought by President Trump left them struggling to assess the impact and the inability to plan for the future.
After years of slow demand and high inflation, car makers in Europe went to 2025 with a group of new batteries and large hopes to attract customers.
Instead, they face the global uncertainty surrounding supply chains and customer requests, which were started by Mr. Trump’s decision to impose a 25 percent tariff on all cars, steel and aluminum next to the United States.
On Wednesday, Mercedes -Benz suspended her financial forecast for 2025, as Stelantis, which includes Fiat, Peugeot and Opel among her trademarks in Europe, did, Kirisler, Dodge and Jeep in the United States.
“The current fluctuations in terms of customs tariffs, mitigation measures and direct and indirect effects in particular on customer behavior and demand are very high to evaluate business development in a reliable way during the remaining period of the year.”
Stelantis cited “the development of customs definitions, as well as the difficulty of predicting its potential effects on the market and the competitive scene” of its decision.
Volkswagen Group, the largest car manufacturer in Europe, decided not to cancel its view of 2025, but instead expanded its profits expectations to the lower end of its expectations, to between 5 and 6 percent. The company, which owns Audi, Porsche, and Volkswagen Brand, warned that the initial accounts were conducted before the definitions were submitted in early April.
All three companies have factories in the United States. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump announced changes to the definitions in what he called “little flexibility” towards car manufacturers that produce cars in the United States and are concerned about the damage that import taxes will cause to their business.
Under the latest version, car makers who pay a 25 percent tariff are not subject to car imports to other fees, such as, for example, on steel and aluminum, or on certain imports from Canada and Mexico. However, the rules do not seem to protect car manufacturers from drivers on steel and aluminum paid by their suppliers and may pass through them.
The leading group representing German auto companies has welcomed this step by Mr. Trump, but it described it as a “small step” that relieves only the burden caused by definitions.
German car makers working in the United States have been eliminated by imposing import taxes on parts and vehicles coming from Canada and Mexico, where many of his operations after Mr. Trump reformulated the free trade agreement with those countries during his first term in his post.
“Companies need more clarity in order to be able to assess the accurate impact and implement measures with legal certainty,” said Hildgard Muller, President of the German Automobile Industry Association.
Porsche was among the German brands the most difficult tariffs. It depends on the American market by 40 percent of its sales, but it makes its sports cars exclusively in Germany, which leaves it exposed to duties.
The performance of the sports car maker in the first three months of the year led to the decrease in its mother company, Volkswagen Group, which said on Wednesday that its profits fell more than 40 percent in the first quarter.
Even before Mr. Trump presented the customs tariff, the main brands of Volkswagen were struggling against high costs and excessive costs in its factories in Germany, as well as increasing pressure from Chinese competitors who flood the European market despite the increased import taxes approved by the European Union last year.
Volkswagen cars, including Electrical ID 4, is made in a factory in Catanoja, Tin, and adopted a factory in South Carolina to produce off -road vehicles under the scout brand. Audi produces cars in Europe and Mexico, as well as Europe, but not in the United States. Oliver Bloom, CEO of Volkswagen, said that the company is considering changing manufacturing for one of its models to Catanoja to avoid definitions.
The German media reported that Mr. Bloom and his counterparts in Mercedes -Benz and BMW met Mr. Trump in a just at an attempt in a deal. German auto companies and their suppliers employ about 138,000 people in the United States, according to the German industry trade group.
Customs tariffs cause other European car makers to rethink their strategy in the United States. The British company Aston Martin said on Wednesday that it had been hindering imports to the United States due to the definitions. Instead, the company plans to use the current inventory that has already shipped, the company’s CEO said in a statement. Jaguar Land Rover also said it stopped shipping to the United States.