« America First » does not work in the luxury industry – DiePresse.com
LVMH boss Bernard Arnault are difficult-and the US factory in Texas also causes resentment: the lack of specialists leads to significant problems in quality.
The highlights of the luxury industry seem to be over for the time being. Consumers have held back significantly in the past few months, but now geopolitical risks such as the impending US tariffs are fully beaten. This is particularly evident in the LVMH industry leader. The sales of the French luxury group decreased by three percent to 20.3 billion euros in the first quarter.
The main brands of the group are Louis Vuitton, Dior, Tiffany and Bulgari. Louis Vuitton remains the group’s draft horse, but other labels – above all dior – could not keep up. The decline in sales primarily affects two core markets: in the USA, sales decreased by three, in Asia (without Japan) even by eleven percent. During the course of the day, Hermès even briefly overtook LVMH on Tuesday: With an assessment of 243.65 billion euros, the luxury goods manufacturer was just ahead of the industry giant, whose stock market value was 243.44 billion euros – and thus took the lead of the French Leistindex CAC 40.
The impending recession is based on the buying mood
At the beginning of the year, many European luxury brands still relied on the wealthy customers from the United States to cushion the weakness in China. But with a view to a possible recession and the protectionist tones of the US President, concern is growing in front of a longer-lasting dull in the luxury industry. Analysts are already reducing their forecasts: Investment bank Bernstein is now expecting a global decline in sales of two percent for 2025. Originally, a growth of five percent was predicted. The luxury basket of the US Großbank Goldman Sachs, which depicts the stock development of large brands, is also eleven percent in the year.
