Mercedes 1998 Annual Report Download - page 71

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FINANCIAL STATEMENT
67
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets
of DaimlerChrysler AG and subsidiaries (“DaimlerChrysler”) as
of December 31, 1998 and 1997, and the related consolidated
statements of income, cash flows, and changes in stockholders'
equity for each of the years in the three-year period ended
December 31, 1998. These consolidated financial statements
are the responsibility of DaimlerChrysler's management. Our
responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated
financial statements based on our audits. We did not audit the
consolidated financial statements of DaimlerChrysler Corpora-
tion and consolidated subsidiaries (“DaimlerChrysler Corpora-
tion”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler AG,
which statements reflect total assets constituting 43 percent
and 44 percent at December 31, 1998 and 1997, and total
revenues constituting 45 percent, 46 percent and 47 percent
for the years ended December 31, 1998, 1997 and 1996, of the
related consolidated totals. Those statements were audited by
other auditors whose report has been furnished to us, and
our opinion, insofar as it relates to the amounts included for
DaimlerChrysler Corporation, is based solely on the report of
the other auditors.
We conducted our audits in accordance with German and
United States generally accepted auditing standards. Those
standards require that we plan and perform the audit to
obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial state-
ments are free of material misstatement. An audit includes
examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts
and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also
includes assessing the accounting principles used and
significant estimates made by management, as well as
evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We
believe that our audits and the report of the other auditors,
provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
DaimlerChrysler has accounted for certain joint ventures in
accordance with the proportionate method of consolidation
as is permitted under the Seventh Directive of the European
Community and the Standards of the International Accounting
Standards Committee. In our opinion, United States generally
accepted accounting principles require that such joint ventures
be accounted for using the equity method of accounting.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has
stated that it would not object to DaimlerChrysler's use of the
proportionate method of consolidation as supplemented by the
disclosures in Note 3.
In our opinion, based on our audits and the report of the
other auditors, except for the use of the proportionate method
of accounting, as discussed in the preceding paragraph, the
financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all
material respects, the financial position of DaimlerChrysler
as of December 31, 1998 and 1997, and the results of their
operations and their cash flows for each of the years in the
three-year period ended December 31, 1998, in conformity
with United States generally accepted accounting principles.
Frankfurt am Main
March 15, 1999
KPMG Deutsche Treuhand-Gesellschaft
Aktiengesellschaft
Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft
Zielke Schmid
Wirtschaftsprüfer Wirtschaftsprüfer
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT