Mercedes-Benz parent company's profit dropped by 37% as sales in China slowed

According to the Wall Street Journal on the 29th, German high-end car manufacturer Daimler announced that the profits of its core passenger car division fell sharply by 37% in the first quarter. On the one hand, it was due to weak sales in the Chinese market, and on the other hand, the rapid slowdown in the global economy hit the company's business in major markets.

Recently, the latest financial report released by Daimler Group showed that in the first quarter of this year, Daimler's revenue was 39.7 billion euros, and its profit before interest and taxes fell to 2.8 billion euros, lower than analysts' expectations of 2.89 billion euros, and a year-on-year decline of 16% compared with 3.35 billion euros in the first quarter of 2018.

Daimler Chief Financial Officer Juergen Hubertus told the media: "The start of this year was relatively weak. We faced many challenges across the value chain, which had a negative impact on the company's sales and profits."

Public reports show that Daimler is accelerating its cost-cutting plan after half of the Smart brand's shares were acquired by China's Geely. Ola Kallenius, who will succeed Dieter Zetsche as Daimler CEO in May, has repeatedly stated that he will formulate a cost-cutting plan. As the automotive industry develops in new directions such as autonomous driving and electric vehicles, corporate R&D costs are gradually rising, and in order to reduce transformation costs, he will cooperate with other automakers.

Recently, more specific plans for Daimler's cost-cutting plan have been reported. According to Germany's Manager Magazine, Ola Kallenius is currently promoting a cost-saving plan, planning to lay off 10,000 employees and cut costs by US$6.75 billion (approximately RMB 45.2 billion) in the next few years.

According to German media reports, in April this year, Daimler Group was again investigated by the German regulatory agency, the Federal Motor Transport Authority, for allegedly using software to falsify vehicle exhaust test data. The German auto industry's "emissions scandal" broke out in 2015. Starting with Volkswagen Group, BMW and Daimler were successively found to have installed exhaust cheating software to falsify exhaust emissions tests in order to pass the tests.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.