Indirect economic impacts
The automotive industry is a significant factor in the overall economy. The passenger car is the key element of individual mobility, while trucks can transport high-quality goods to any destination. The automotive industry – including DaimlerChrysler – thus influences economic processes in a variety of ways.
The economic significance of the automotive industry. The automotive industry is an engine of growth, revenues, employment and prosperity all over the world. Because of its size and global orientation, it makes a major contribution to the development of the global economy: The sales revenue of DaimlerChrysler alone is comparable to the gross domestic product of Portugal or Hong Kong.
With approximately 750,000 employees in 2006, the German automotive industry is one of the country’s largest employers. The fact that Germany is export world champion is due above all to its automotive industry’s export surplus of almost € 100 billion. In the U.S., one out of every ten jobs depends on the automotive industry; the production and sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles generate 4 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product.
The German automotive industry’s expenditure on research and development (R&D) – which amounted to more than € 15 billion in 2006, or 35 percent of overall expenditure in the manufacturing sector – is higher than average. The DaimlerChrysler Group’s investments accounted for more than one-third of this figure. According to a study commissioned by the EU, DaimlerChrysler occupies fourth place in the worldwide list of R&D investors and is the top R&D investor in Europe.
DaimlerChrysler’s two home regions – the German state of Baden-Württemberg and the U.S. state of Michigan – benefit particularly from the company’s economic strength. Baden-Württemberg, for example, which is home to one-fourth of the jobs in the German automotive industry, has an unemployment rate that is far below the average for the entire country. Michigan, where 22 percent of all jobs are directly or indirectly dependent on the automotive industry, likewise has the highest proportion of automotive employment in North America.
Jobs, income, tax payments. DaimlerChrysler’s tax payments in 2006 totaled € 1.2 billion. But this is only a fraction of the payments that the Group made directly or indirectly to the public authorities. The state also benefits in other ways from DaimlerChrysler – for example, from the income tax and other contributions deducted from wages and salaries (€ 18.6 billion) for more than 360,000 employees, from personnel and social contributions (€ 24.8 billion), and from taxes on dividends and commercial revenues. Further taxes are derived for example from the supplier industry, financing, sales and services.
Downstream economic influences. In addition to its core area of business activity – marketing automobiles – DaimlerChrysler also benefits the economy and society in other ways. For example, the Group provides financial support to local institutions and promotes infrastructure services such as corporate sports centers.
MAGAZINE p. 77
MAGAZINE p. 77
Please note
The information in the "Sustainability" section mainly refers to the 2006 reporting year. It thus may not always reflect the com- pany's current situation.
