A German luxury brand’s Chinese ownership has become a liability in Washington, where legislation moving through the US Senate could shut Mercedes-Benz out of one of its most important markets. At issue is nearly a fifth of the company’s shares held by Chinese groups.
The threshold that matters is 15%. The Senate Commerce Committee has approved the Connected Vehicle Security Act, which would prohibit automakers from selling connected vehicles in the US if Chinese groups hold more than that share of their stock.
Both of the company’s largest individual shareholders are Chinese. State-owned automaker BAIC holds 9.98%, and Geely Holding Group founder Li Shufu controls 9.69% through Tenaciou3 Prospect Investment. Together those holdings amount to 19.67%, well beyond the bill’s cutoff.
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How much is at stake depends on the weight of the American market. In 2025, Mercedes-Benz USA retailed 303,200 passenger cars, up 1% on the prior year, and moved 40,000 vans, bringing the combined US total to 343,200 units. Set against global sales of 2,160,000 cars and vans for the Mercedes-Benz Group over the same period, the American figures represent a meaningful share of overall volume.
Behind the legislation is growing unease in Washington about Chinese technology built into vehicles that depend on hardware and software to communicate. Republican Bernie Moreno of Ohio, a former Mercedes car dealer, and Democrat Elissa Slotkin of Michigan introduced the bill, which cautions that letting adversaries reach the communication systems of connected vehicles opens the door to surveillance, espionage, cyber intrusion and disruption of critical infrastructure.
Criticism from both parties has followed Mercedes as it presses the committee to soften the measure. The company has leaned on its scale in the country, where it says it supports 160,000 jobs across factories, suppliers and dealers.
Mercedes counters that no single shareholder holds more than 10% of its stock, and that its major shareholders have neither direct representation on the supervisory board nor any control or decision-making authority. The bill’s framework, though, turns on the combined Chinese stake rather than the size of any one holding.
While it backs legislation designed to protect US national security, the company said, it remains committed to ensuring that any legislation does not impact its operations.
Some flexibility remains. Senator Bernie Moreno indicated Mercedes would have until 2030 to comply and could still obtain waivers if needed. Committee chair Ted Cruz warned that without changes, the ownership provision would bar Mercedes from selling vehicles in the country.
Before it can become law, the bill still needs approval from the full Senate and must then be reconciled with any version that passed in the House, leaving time for the language to change.
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