Executive Message: Bodo Uebber

On the importance of the economic dimension for Daimler
  

Bodo Uebber, member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, responsible for Finance & Controlling / Financial Services Dear readers, At Daimler, our efforts to achieve business success are tightly interlinked with our awareness of the responsibility we bear toward society and the environment. Only if we achieve a balance between business success, social responsibility and effective environmental protection will we achieve outstanding results in our sales markets in the long term. Our goal is sustained profitable growth, which will increase our corporate value to the benefit of all the social groups involved.

In 2006, Daimler increased its total revenues by 1 percent to approximately EUR 152 billion. The Group sold a total of 4.7 million vehicles last year, slightly less than the figure posted for 2005. Our operating profit of EUR 5.5 billion was below our original target of more than EUR 6 billion. The crucial factor here was the drastic alteration of the demand structure on the North American market and the resulting losses at the Chrysler Group. Nonetheless, we have made good progress on the way toward long-term profitable growth, because some of our other divisions have considerably exceeded their targets. The efficiency-enhancement programs that are currently running in all Group divisions have had positive effects, and the New Management Model has helped us create streamlined and stable processes in our administrative units. As a result, we will be able to work faster, more flexibly and more economically at all levels of our company, thus becoming more competitive and more profitable. The Recovery and Transformation Plan, which was present-ed in February 2007, is a comprehensive program drawn up by the Chrysler Group. Its goal is to enable, the Chrysler Group to post positive results on a permanent basis, even under difficult market conditions.

In 2006, external evaluators also recognized that we are aligning our business activities with sustainability targets: Daimler is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, one of the world’s most important sustainability indexes, and in the European Dow Jones STOXX Sustainability Index. Daimler has also received favorable marks in other sustainability ratings and indexes.

Above and beyond the benefits to the Group, sustainable business practices at Daimler are leading to further jobs and prosperity. After all, every job at Daimler supports many other jobs in upstream and downstream business segments. We are aware that our responsibility for our business activities does not end at the gates of our production plants. And I can assure you that regardless of where Daimler employees perform research and development work, purchase supplies, work in production, or sell the Group’s products, all of our operations are oriented toward sustainability.

Bodo Uebber
Member of the Board of Management,
responsible for Finance & Controlling / Financial Services