The future of Mercedes-Benz in the United States could be in trouble, at least based on new proposed legislation in the United States Senate. Today, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee approved legislation to ban sales by automakers with more than a 15 percent ownership stake by Chinese entities.
Mercedes, which has a nearly 20 percent ownership stake by Chinese groups, could be affected by the legislation, though an outright ban of the German automaker seems unlikely. Eric Li Shufu, the founder and chairman of Geely, owns 9.7 percent of Mercedes through an investment firm, with the BAIC Group (Beijing Automotive Group) owning another 9.98 percent.
View Price on AmazonAccording to a report by Reuters, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), the committee chair, said that the bill requires changes before becoming law. According to the report, the senator directly addressed the potential Mercedes ban, while Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH) said that the automaker would have until 2030 to comply. Moreno also announced that Mercedes could potentially get waivers that would allow the automaker to skirt the new regulation.
According to the Reuters report, Cruz said that General Motors is pushing for the legislation as a way to remove Mercedes from the picture, thereby making the Cadillac brand more competitive. Despite that, Cruz said, "we would never consider" banning Mercedes-Benz sales in the United States.
The news comes less than a month after Polestar, the Swedish automaker owned by Geely, was informed by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security that starting in 2027, the automaker would no longer be able to sell vehicles in the United States. Despite also being owned by Geely, Volvo said in May that it had received authorization to continue sales, though it also said that it must meet certain regulations to do so.
Source: caranddriver.com
