(March 4): Stellantis NV and Volkswagen AG are highly exposed to US President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on vehicles imported from Mexico and Canada, with Bloomberg Intelligence estimating the levies could wipe out €5.88 billion (RM27.6 billion) of European automakers’ earnings this year.

The owner of the Jeep, Ram, Chrysler and Dodge brands may import around 417,000 vehicles into the US this year from the two countries Trump just hit with 25% tariffs, BI senior industry analyst Michael Dean wrote in a report Tuesday. Assuming no mitigating measures are implemented, he estimates €3.44 billion of Stellantis and €1.77 billion of Volkswagen earnings are at risk.

“There’s limited scope to pass this additional cost onto buyers amid rising US price discounts that average US$2,000 (RM8,932.90), intense competition and overcapacity,” Dean wrote. “The unlikely scenario of the whole levy being passed on to buyers would result in a US$6,000-US$10,000 price hike.”

Stellantis led European automaker stocks lower in Tuesday trading, with its Milan-listed shares falling more than 6% to the lowest in intraday trading since Dec 2. Volkswagen’s preference shares dropped more than 4% in Frankfurt, where BMW AG and Mercedes-Benz Group AG also slumped.

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