Annual Report 2019

Daimler can look back on a tradition covering more than 130 years - a tradition that goes back to Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, the inventors of the automobile, and features pioneering achievements in automotive engineering. Today, the Daimler Group is a globally leading vehicle manufacturer with an outstanding range of premium cars, trucks, vans and buses. Its product portfolio is rounded out by a range of customized financial services and mobility services. Daimler’s goal is to continue playing a leading role in the development of products and services for the future of mobility. The automotive industry is in the process of a fundamental transformation, and we intend to play a major role in actively shaping that change. Daimler AG is the parent company of the Daimler Group and its headquarters are in Stuttgart. With the new corporate structure, effective as of January 1, 2020, the Group’s business operations under the umbrella of Daimler AG are no longer managed in five divisions, but in three. Mercedes-Benz AG is responsible for the business of Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans and Daimler Truck AG combines the activities of Daimler Trucks & Buses. Daimler Financial Services, which had already been legally independent for many years, was renamed as Daimler Mobility AG in July.

With the new structure, Daimler AG carries out the functions of steering and governance and provides services for the companies of the Group. As the parent company, it also defines the Group’s strategy, makes strategic decisions for business operations, and ensures the effectiveness of organizational, legal, and compliance-related functions throughout the Group.

We have used the previous structure of five divisions in our report on financial year 2019, analogously to the reports for the first three quarters of the year. The new reporting structure with three divisions will be used as of the first quarter of 2020.

The management reports for Daimler AG and for the Daimler Group are combined within this annual report.

With its strong brands, Daimler is active in nearly all the countries of the world. The Group has production facilities in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa. The global networking of research and development activities as well as of production and sales locations gives Daimler advantages in the international competitive field and also offers additional growth opportunities.

In 2019, Daimler increased its revenue by 3 % to € 172.7 billion. The Group’s five divisions contributed to this total as follows: Mercedes-Benz Cars 52 %, Daimler Trucks 22 %, Mercedes-Benz Vans 8 %, Daimler Buses 3 % and Daimler Mobility 15 %. At the end of 2019, Daimler employed a total workforce of more than 298,000 people worldwide.

The products supplied by the Mercedes-Benz Cars division comprise a broad spectrum of premium vehicles of the Mercedes-Benz brand, the Mercedes-AMG high-performance brand and the Mercedes-Maybach luxury brand. These vehicles range from compact models to a highly varied portfolio of off-road vehicles, roadsters, coupes and convertibles, and to the S-Class luxury sedans. The product range is rounded out by the Mercedes me brand and the high-quality small cars of the smart brand. In 2016, we launched the new EQ (Electric Intelligence) brand for all of our activities related to electric mobility. The most important markets for Mercedes-Benz Cars in 2019 were China with 29 % of unit sales, Germany (14 %), the other European markets (28 %), the United States (13 %), South Korea (3 %) and Japan (3 %). The Mercedes-Benz Cars division is continuously refining its flexible production network consisting of a total of more than 30 locations on four continents. In particular, we are preparing our worldwide production network to meet the requirements of electric mobility.

As the world’s largest manufacturer of trucks above 6 metric tons gross vehicle weight, Daimler Trucks develops and produces vehicles in a global network under the brands Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner, Western Star, FUSO and BharatBenz. The division’s 30 production facilities are located in the NAFTA region (17), Europe (7), Asia (4) and South America (2). In China, Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive Co., Ltd. (BFDA), a joint venture with our Chinese partner Beiqi Foton Motor Co., Ltd., has been producing trucks under the Auman brand name since 2012. Daimler Trucks’ product range includes light-, medium- and heavy-duty trucks for long-distance, distribution and construction-site haulage, as well as special vehicles that are used mainly in municipal applications. Due to close links in terms of production technology, the division’s product range also includes buses of the Thomas Built Buses and FUSO brands. The activities related to electric mobility have been combined at the E-Mobility Group since 2018. The division offers and tests locally emission-free electric drive systems across its entire product range. Daimler Trucks’ most important sales markets in 2019 were the NAFTA region with 41 % of unit sales, Asia with 28 % and the EU30 region (European Union, Switzerland and Norway) with 16 %.

Mercedes-Benz Vans is a global supplier of a complete portfolio of vans and related services. The division’s products range from the Citan small van with a gross vehicle weight of 1.8 metric tons to the Sprinter large van with a gross vehicle weight of up to 5.5 metric tons. The models offered in the commercial segment comprises the Sprinter large van, the Vito mid-size van (marketed as the “Metris” in the United States) and the Citan urban delivery van. In the segment for private customers, Mercedes-Benz Vans offers the V-Class multipurpose vehicle, the Marco Polo travel vans and recreational vehicles, and the X-Class mid-size pickup. As a result of the review and prioritization of the product portfolio, production of the X-Class is to be discontinued at the end of May 2020. Our eDrive activities demonstrate how systematically we are progressing with the development of alternative drive systems in all model series. The Mercedes-Benz Vans division has manufacturing facilities in Germany, Spain, the United States, Argentina, China and Russia. The division is active in the Chinese market through the joint venture Fujian Benz Automotive Ltd. Production of the Citan is part of the strategic alliance with Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi. The most important markets for vans are the EU30 region, which accounted for 68 % of unit sales in the year under review, the NAFTA region (13 %) and Asia (9 %).

The Daimler Buses division with its Mercedes-Benz and Setra brands is the industry leader for buses above 8 metric tons in its most important traditional core markets: the EU30 region, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. The division’s product range comprises city and intercity buses, touring coaches and bus chassis. The largest of the division’s 14 production plants are located in Germany, France, Spain, Turkey, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and India. In 2019, Daimler Buses generated 68 % of its revenue in the EU30 region and 15 % in Latin America (excluding Mexico). Whereas we mainly sell complete buses in Europe, our business in Latin America, Mexico, Africa and Asia focuses on the production and distribution of bus chassis.

The Daimler Mobility division supports the sales of the Daimler Group’s automotive brands with tailored financial services. These services range from leasing, financing and insurance solutions to commercial fleet management services. In addition, the division is a strategic investor in mobility services for ride hailing, multimodal platforms, car sharing, parking and charging. The mobility services of the “YOUR NOW” joint ventures between Daimler and BMW have been consolidated in three units as of January 1, 2020 : FREE NOW & REACH NOW, SHARE NOW, PARK NOW & CHARGE NOW. The mobility ecosystem is rounded out by flexible-use services from Daimler Mobility such as Mercedes-Benz Rent (rental vehicles) and Mercedes me Flexperience (a car-on-demand solution). During the year under review, Daimler Mobility financed or leased approximately 50 % of the vehicles sold by the Group. The division’s contract volume of €162.8 billion covers more than 5.4 million vehicles. Daimler Mobility operates in 40 countries and employs approximately 13,000 people.

Daimler is active in the global automotive industry and related sectors through a broad network of subsidiaries, associated companies and partnerships. The statement of investments of Daimler AG in accordance with Section 313 of the German Commercial Code (HGB) can be found in Note 41 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.