By Steven Symes 
As automakers react in different ways to the tariffs threatened by President Donald Trump, we’re seeing both Mercedes and Aston Martin pull back in different ways. To us it’s fascinating to observe these disparate approaches to a situation which was telegraphed months ago, yet so many automotive executives seem to have thought was a giant bluff or just meaningless campaign trail promises.
Tesla denies it’s looking to oust CEO Elon Musk.
Now, Mercedes is doing some shuffling, withdrawing its 2025 earnings guidance as the economic table is being reset. The reason for this move is, of course, the tariffs. Although it’s worth noting in its coverage, CBT News mentions the German automaker saw its first-quarter earnings plummet a whopping 41 percent.
We covered before how people were at least to a degree panic shopping and buying cars at a heightened pace. Apparently, not enough were snatching up Mercedes, or there’s something else going on here. Blaming tariffs for that drop would be… interesting.
In any case, not only is Mercedes pulling back its projections for company performance this year, it’s apparently been building up extra vehicle inventory here in the US. It’s not clear if those are cars made here or elsewhere, but the latter seems more likely.
Perhaps after a bit we’ll just have to be content with the Mercedes models manufactured stateside. Talk about first world problems.
In the meantime, Aston Martin is cutting back on how many cars it imports into the US. Because this market makes up over a third of the automaker’s revenue, that can’t be good for business. What’s worse is it seems even the very wealthy are feeling the pinch, meaning fewer top-end models are being sold by the Brits.
Like Mercedes, Aston Martin saw a first quarter drop in revenue, but only at 13 percent, reports CBT News. Perhaps that’s why the company didn’t change or withdraw its 2025 guidance?
If the automaker isn’t selling many hypercars these days, which have big profit margins, and it’s cutting down on vehicles shipped to its top global market, how bright can the immediate financial future be?
We expect reactions in the auto industry to the evolving tariffs situation to continue rolling out in the coming weeks.
Image via Aston Martin