Current Group Key Figures

* The figures relate to the business year 2019.

In the year 2019, the Daimler Group’s revenue of €172.7 billion (2018: €167.4 billion) was slightly above the prior-year level. Also, adjusted for positive exchange-rate effects, revenue was slightly higher than in the previous year. The development of revenue was positively affected primarily by stronger pricing for new vehicles at Daimler Trucks and growth in contract volume at Daimler Mobility.

The Daimler Group achieved EBIT of €4.3 billion in 2019, which is significantly lower than in the previous year (2018: €11.1 billion). The Daimler Group had expected EBIT to be slightly above the prior year figure. The Mercedes-Benz Cars and Mercedes-Benz Vans divisions posted earnings significantly below the prior-year figures. This mainly resulted from a reassessment of risks relating to ongoing governmental and legal proceedings and measures taken with regard to Mercedes-Benz diesel vehicles in various regions and markets, as well as from an updated risk assessment for an expanded recall of vehicles with Takata airbags.

Net profit of €2.7 billion (2018: €7.6 billion) is significantly below the prior-year figure. Net profit of €0.3 billion is attributable to non-controlling interests (2018: €0.3 billion). Net profit attributable to the shareholders of Daimler AG amounts to €2.4 billion (2018: €7.2 billion).

Charts: quarterly development 2017-2019

How is Daimler positioned in financial terms?

The net liquidity of the industrial business stabilized at €11.0 billion (2018: €16.3 billion), taking into account lessee accounting in accordance with IFRS 16 and the dividend payment for fiscal year 2018. The inclusion of lessee accounting in accordance with IFRS16 reduced the net liquidity of the industrial business from the end of 2018 to the beginning of 2019 by €3.2 billion.

* The figures relate to the business year 2019.

In the context of our strategy of strengthening our core business and with the transformation of the automotive industry, we aim to make good use of the opportunities presented by the global automotive markets. In this context, we always focus on the dynamically changing wishes of our customers. We therefore aim to play a major role in shaping the fundamental technological change taking place in the automotive industry. This applies in particular to the electrification of our product range and the digital connectivity of our products and processes at all stages of the value chain. Achieving this goal will continue to require substantial investments in innovative products and new technologies, as well as in the expansion of our worldwide production network.

In 2019, our investments (industrial business) in property, plant and equipment – as already announced in Annual Report 2018 – once again reached the very high level of €7.1 billion (2018: €7.5 billion).

We want to continue helping to shape mobility through our pioneering innovations in the coming years, while moving ahead with digitalization throughout the entire Group. We therefore slightly increased our very high level of investment in research and development to €9.7 billion in 2019 (2018: €9.1 billion). At the beginning of 2019 we assumed that development would remain at the same level as the previous year. Of that amount, €3.1 billion (2018: €2.5 billion) was capitalized as development costs, which represents a capitalization rate of 32% (2018: 28%).

The amortization of capitalized research and development expenditure totaled €1.8 billion during the year under review (2018: €1.5 billion). With a rate of 5.6% (2018: 5.4%), research and development expenditure also remained at a high level in comparison with revenue. Along with the production launches, research in the year under review focused on the further development of our platforms and electric and conventional drivetrains. Digitalization and automated and autonomous driving are also becoming increasingly important.

Charts: quarterly development 2017-2019

* The figures relate to the business year 2019.

Employees

At the end of the fiscal year, the Daimler Group employed 298,655 people worldwide (2018: 298,683), 173,813 people worked in Germany (2018: 174,663), 25,788 in the United States (2018: 26,310), and the consolidated subsidiaries in China employed 4,439 people (2018: 4,424).

Around the world, we have combined in-house services, such as those for financial processes, human resources (HR), IT and development tasks, sales functions and certain location-specific services, into shared service centers. Some of the shared service centers are not consolidated because they have a negligible affect on our financial position, cash flow or profitability; those companies employed approximately 13,400 men and women at the end of 2019.

The Group’s total workforce also does not include the employees of companies that we manage together with Chinese partners; on December 31, 2019, they numbered approximately 22,600 people (2018: 19,900).

Sold vehicles

The Group’s total unit sales for passenger cars and commercial vehicles were in the magnitude of the previous year. Daimler’s divisions performed well in 2019 despite some difficult market conditions. This was significantly supported by numerous new products and innovative services. Mercedes-Benz Cars, Mercedes-Benz Vans and Daimler Buses all surpassed their prior-year unit sales, and Daimler Mobility increased its contract volume. In order to further improve our competitiveness, we entered into future-oriented partnerships in key areas such as autonomous driving, mobility services and the further development of the smart brand.