BMW and Mercedes-Benz have reported that their financials have taken a hit in the second quarter (Q2) of the year, while Stellantis has returned to net profit after a difficult start to the year, according to the OEMs’ recent financial results.
In the flurry of financials released at the end of this month, Stellantis and Porsche were the standouts, with the former’s Q2 revenues rising 13% year-on-year to €43.5 billion ($50.1bn), and VW Group’s Porsche seeing operating profit rise to €1.35 billion due to cost cutting and its ‘value over volume’ strategy started to show results.
Stellantis returns to profit as North America rebounds
“The second quarter was marked by continued progress, led by North America and supported by important contributions from all other regions,” said Antonio Filosa, CEO, Stellantis.
The company reported a 10% increase in global shipments, with a 38% rise in North American shipments, helping the overall revenue.
He further attributed the progress to the carmaker’s ‘FaSTLAne 2030’ strategy, which aims to drive localisation, partnerships and plant repurposing to cut costs and boost resilience across key regions.
“With implementation of our FaSTLAne 2030 strategy well underway and this year’s exciting new product launches on time and on track, we remain confident of delivering our 2026 financial guidance,” he added.
Volkswagen balances weaker profits with stronger cash flow
VW Group stayed on track despite the challenging market environment, with its sales revenue broadly flat in the first half (H1) year-on-year, from €158.4bn to €158.1bn. Its operating result on sales did drop however, from €6.7bn in H1 2025 to €5.9bn in 2026. The group said this was primarily due to expenses related to the discontinuation of the US production of the ID.4 as well as negative mix effects. Higher US tariffs as well as restructuring costs also took a hit at the operating profit.
Cash flow significantly increased YoY though, from negative €1.4bn last year to €3.2bn this year. To achieve this, VW Group reduced cash outflow for working capital and spend less on investments in fixed assets and research and development. Lower tax payments also helped increase the cash flow.
While the carmaker did feel the effects of declines in China (-31.6%), it said this was partially offset by growth in South America (5.2%), Western Europe (1.3%), and Central and Eastern Europe (9.6%).
Oliver Blume, CEO, VW Group said the realignment of the company over the past three years is delivering results. “Applying disciplined cost management, we have managed to offset continued unavoidable headwinds in the double-digit billions,” he said, while acknowledging that the industry remains volatile.
For Porsche, deliveries fell 17%, largely due to Chinese competition, but the group’s H1 return on sales increased to 7.8% from 5.5% the previous year, and its cashflow increased to around €1bn.
Revenue fell despite improved profitability, in line with the value over volume strategy,
Dr Michael Leiters, CEO, Porsche said: “Our rigorous cost management and our value-over-volume strategy are starting to have positive effects, which is why we are reaffirming our full-year forecast despite a market environment that remains challenging.”
Ford raises guidance despite one-off accounting loss
Ford reported strong underlying operating performance despite a statutory net loss driven by a one-off accounting charge related to BlueOval SK.
Ford’s Q2 saw a rise in revenue YoY of $1.9bn to $48.3bn, and its net loss of $1.3bn, may seem less than favourable, but the carmaker’s profit has risen to $2.5bn in adjusted EBIT, up $400m. The net loss also includes a $3.6bn charge tied to the BlueOval SK joint venture, rather than being from market conditions.
Jim Farley, CEO and president at Ford, stressed that the “important story is the growing evidence that Ford is becoming a more profitable, more disciplines and genuinely different company”.
As a result, the company has raised its full-year adjusted EBIT guidance to $10-11bn from $8.5-10.5bn.
GM focuses on localisation and tariff resilience
Revenue at GM increased YoY in the second quarter, up 1.9% from $47.1bn to $48bn.
It was profitable, with EBIT-adjusted up almost 30% from $3bn to $3.94bn.
The group’s CEO Mary Barra told shareholders that she expects the upwards trend to continue into 2027 and beyond due to a strong vehicle portfolio, expanding software and services ecosystem, and a more efficient manufacturing and sourcing footprint. “We will be onshoring significant production to further reduce our tariff exposure,” she said.
The OEM expects approximately $4-5bn of tariff exposure this year, but plans to offset through supplier actions, pricing and efficiency.
She added that growth in businesses like GM Defense is creating additional avenues for value creation.
At other carmakers, the picture wasn’t as rosy as they battle Chinese competition and global market headwinds.
BMW restructures as profits decline
BMW’s profit slump of 35% has prompted the OEM to look to an “extensive workforce restructuring program” being implemented. The OEM’s pre-tax earnings fell to €1.7bn, and its operating margin for the automotive segment was just 2.3%. The group also suffered a big dip in free cash flow, with the automotive segment having €513m, down by almost 75% (-73.4%).
According to BMW, lower sales volumes and intense competition weighed on revenue performance. During the first six months, revenues for its automotive segment declined year-on-year to €54,300m from €58,650m.
Milan Nedeljković, chairman of the board of management of BMW, said: “The automotive industry is faced with rapidly escalating challenges – intense global competition, increasing regional regulatory requirements and the implications of geopolitical conflicts will shape our business model in the years ahead. That’s why it’s important to be lean and agile. We are working to reshape our organisation and processes thereby positioning the company to stay competitive going forward.”
The carmaker said there will be a slight decline in its automotive segment deliveries this year as a result, and expects to have a profit margin between 1-3% by the end of the year.
Mercedes-Benz cuts sales outlook after China slowdown
Mercedes-Benz said it performed in line with guidance, but cut its full-year sales outlook after a 30% drop in China, as the OEM took a €704m impairment on its Chinese business.
The OEM’s revenue for Q2 dropped YoY from €33.2bn to €32.1bn, but its profitability was better than expected with a Q2 EBIT of €1.55bn and its profit guidance was maintained.
The group’s free cash flow of €1.1bn in Q2 (€1.9bn in Q2 2025) was supported by €417m from the partial sale of Daimler Truck shareholding.
A bright spot for the firm though was that its BEV sales were up 51%.
Ola Källenius, CEO of the group, said: “Despite a demanding market environment, we remained on track in the second quarter while continuing to advance our product launch programme. Customer response to our new models is strong, with Mercedes-Benz Cars BEV sales up 51% and BEV order intake in Europe more than doubling in the quarter. In the second half, we will focus on bringing more new models to customers while further improving our cost position and productivity.”
Automotive Logistics' take
While the financial performances and strategies varied, there seems to be a common strategy emerging across the industry. Every major OEM emphasised cost reduction, manufacturing efficiency, regionalisation and supply chain resilience as priorities.
Whether responding to tariffs, Chinese competition or geopolitical uncertainty, manufacturers are increasingly restructuring production footprints and localising sourcing to protect profitability.
