Finance
Traton posts earnings decline on weaker sales and rising tariff impact (October 29)
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on October 29, 2025
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Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on October 29, 2025
(Corrects story published on October 29 to say Q4 tariff impact will be a mid double-digit figure, not triple-digit, and specifies 2026 tariff impact may reach triple-digit range)
By Amir Orusov and Simon Ferdinand Eibach
(Reuters) -Volkswagen's truck unit Traton reported a 39% drop in operating profit for the first nine months of 2025 on Wednesday, hurt by lower revenue, unfavourable exchange rates and U.S. tariffs on imported goods.
The truckmaker's adjusted operating profit fell to 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) in the January-September period, compared with 3.3 billion euros in the same period last year.
Adjusted operating profit margin in Traton's U.S. division, International Motors, fell to 1.6% in the nine-month period from 6.3% a year earlier.
European truck manufacturers have been hit by declining demand in North America, driven by weaker freight activity and further exacerbated by market uncertainty stemming from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.
Traton confirmed its full-year guidance for unit sales and revenue, but narrowed its adjusted operating margin forecast to the lower end of the earlier 6–7% range, reflecting the impact of Trump's tariffs.
Incremental tariff costs in the third quarter amounted to about $30 million and are expected to hit a mid double-digit million dollar figure in the final quarter of the year, Chief Financial Officer Michael Jackstein said in a conference call.
As for 2026, the tariff burden will be "substantial", possibly reaching a triple-digit million dollar range, he added.
Trump's move to slap 25% duties on imported heavy trucks has deepened trade uncertainty across North America, even though the USMCA trade agreement still shields most manufacturers from fresh duties.
NO BOOST YET FROM GERMAN FISCAL STIMULUS
Jackstein also said there had been no positive effects from the German fiscal stimulus package yet.
"We don't see that materializing in Germany with regards ... to a higher order intake," he said. "We don't see the progress we are waiting for since quite some time yet," he added.
But Jackstein remains cautiously optimistic about the measures. "I certainly will not rule out that 2026 can be better," he said.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Reporting by Amir Orusov and Simon Ferdinand Eibach; Editing by Matt Scuffham and Milla Nissi-Prussak)