European carmakers post lower Q1 sales
New model launches eat into margins
Volkswagen, Stellantis, Mercedes Benz shares all lower

LONDONFRANKFURT, April 30 Reuters European car giants Volkswagen, MercedesBenz and Stellantis all posted lower sales and firstquarter revenue on Tuesday as they geared up to launch new models, faced higher costs and were hit by weaker demand for new cars as interest rates remain high.

The news hit the automakers39; stocks. Mercedes shares were down 4.4, Stellantis 4 and Volkswagen 2.7.

Mercedes, Volkswagen, Stellantis and BMW were among the biggest fallers on Europe39;s bluechip eurozone STOXX50E index. Mercedes and Stellantis were both down more than 4 at their lowest since February.

Weakness in car sales affected massmarket and topend models alike, with the automakers trying to hold car prices steady and promising improvements as the year goes on and new models hit the market.

They are all suffering from the same problems more or less. There are delivery problems and margins are under pressure, said Moritz Kronenberger, portfolio manager at Union Investment, which holds stakes in Volkswagen, Stellantis and MercedesBenz.

The question remains is the socalled transition year mainly about model changeovers or is there also a certain market weakness on the demand side? The latter remains to be assumed, also in view of the high inflation, high prices and weak momentum for electric cars.

Europe39;s legacy automakers face a number of…