(Reuters) - German luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz's passenger car division on Thursday reported a 40.5% drop in annual earnings, and said it expected significantly lower earnings in 2025 for the group as it worked to boost competitiveness and cut costs.

The group, which cut guidance twice last year, forecast 2025 sales to be slightly below the prior year level and an adjusted return on sales of just 6-8% at its cars division, down from 8.1% in 2024.

Group earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) fell to 13.6 billion euros ($14.18 billion) in 2024, while sales fell by 4.5% to 146 billion euros ($152.25 billion).

The luxury carmaker will announce details later on Thursday of plans to refresh its model lineup and cut production costs by 10% until 2027 in a strategy revamp which Chief Executive Ola Kaellenius said aimed to "ensure the company's future competitiveness in an uncertain world."

The company's board will propose a dividend of 4.30 euros per share, down from 5.30 in 2023.

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