STUTTGART (dpa-AFX) - The business of the car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz has been weakening recently - now the company has made its cost-cutting course more concrete. "In the coming years, we will reduce our costs by several billion euros a year," a spokeswoman said in response to an inquiry. The spokesperson left open exactly how the costs are to be cut. The company also initially left questions about possible job cuts unanswered.

The savings course was justified with the tense situation in the automotive industry: "The economic situation remains extremely volatile worldwide. Only by sustainably increasing efficiency will we remain financially strong and able to act." Significant savings - including in fixed costs - have put the company in a good starting position. "We are continuing along this path calmly but extremely consistently," it said.

The "Stuttgarter Zeitung" and "Stuttgarter Nachrichten" newspapers had previously reported that the top management of the Group had sworn the higher management to the stricter cost-cutting course in a press release. However, no concrete measures or resolutions were mentioned on Wednesday, the report said. However, the job security that applies to the majority of employees in Germany is not in question, Mercedes emphasized to the newspapers. This agreement - known internally as "Zusi 2030" - basically rules out compulsory redundancies until the end of 2029.

Profit slump due to weakness in China

At the end of October, Mercedes reported a slump in profits for the third quarter: Group profit fell by more than half year-on-year to 1.72 billion euros. Turnover fell by 6.7 percent to 34.5 billion euros. These financial results were not in line with the expectations at Mercedes, said CFO Harald Wilhelm at the time. On this occasion, the manager also announced that he now wanted to pay even more attention to costs and efficiency. Every stone was to be turned over.

Mercedes is currently experiencing difficulties - especially in China. The expensive models with the three-pointed star are not doing as well there as expected. There are no signs of improvement for the current year either. However, the expensive cars are the core element of Group CEO Ola Källenius' strategy. They have brought the Swabians record sales in recent years. However, with the economic downturn in the People's Republic, wealthy Mercedes customers have become unexpectedly thrifty. In addition, competition from domestic car manufacturers is growing in the country, which has been the guarantor of growth for German manufacturers for many years./jwe/DP/mis