Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Adam Chamberlain said Tuesday that 2026 is shaping up to be more challenging than expected.
“If you look at the market in the first couple of months of the year, the market environment is definitely a little tougher than we anticipated,” Chamberlain told CNBC at the company’s manufacturing plant in Vance, Alabama. “I think there are lots of distractions out there, whether it’s geopolitics and everything else.”
Car buyers are facing elevated auto loan interest rates and questions about the strength of the economy that threaten to slow shopping for a new vehicle.
But even with gasoline prices now topping $4 a gallon in the U.S., Chamberlain said the automaker hasn’t yet seen consumers delaying buying a new Mercedes due to gas prices.
“I think in the short term, it’s manageable,” said Chamberlain. “But I think over [a] 90, 100 or 120-day period at closer to $5 [per gallon], it starts to become a bigger distraction.”
