BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) -German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz said carmakers must adapt like “animals” to survive in the fierce global auto market, where price wars in China are squeezing margins and belt-tightening U.S. consumers are cutting back on spending.
“The animal that is able to adapt is the one that survives and thrives in evolution,” Chief Executive Ola Kaellenius told investors on Wednesday after reporting third quarter results.
“The hyper-competition in China is not going away anytime soon,” he added.
Mercedes-Benz, which reported better than expected auto margins globally, is battling a wide field of rivals in China, where competition and an economic slowdown has hit its peers including Volkswagen, Porsche and BMW.
The company’s China sales slid 27% year-on-year in the third quarter, while sales in the U.S. market fell 17%, dented by the impact of trade tariffs. Europe sales rose slightly.
“The market situation in the premium and luxury segment in China remained tense, with foreign manufacturers in particular reporting significant declines in unit sales,” the firm said.
(Reporting by Rachel More and Ilona Wissenbach; Writing by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Kirsti Knolle, Elaine Hardcastle)
