Mercedes 1999 Annual Report Download - page 12

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CHAIRMEN’S LETTER
6
C H A I R M E N ’ S L E T T E R
Our business is more than just our products and services.
It’s about an experience. A total customer experience
delivered through the entire range of products and services
of each of our car, truck and commercial vehicle brands, as
well as debis, Dasa and Adtranz.
We are not there yet, but our plans for continued, steady
improvement will drive our position of leadership in the
automotive industry as we advance into the 21st century.
It is, above all, the irrepressibly entrepreneurial spirit of
this company - our passion for making great cars and trucks
which stems from our dual heritage - that will enable us to
accomplish this.
2000 AND BEYOND
This year we will again face strong competition.
In North America, early indications suggest the level of
economic activity is likely to plateau in 2000 following
another year of rapid growth in 1999. In contrast, we expect
a gradual pick-up in economic activity in Europe, except in
the United Kingdom. In Japan, further slow recovery is
expected, with continued faster recovery in South East Asia.
The outlook for Latin America varies widely.
This suggests that competition will intensify in all our
markets.
Nevertheless, our well-balanced spread of revenues between
Europe and North America, gives us the flexibility to
respond to market developments more quickly than our
competitors. We have the flexibility and resolve to ensure
that revenues and profits will continue to be strong again
in 2000.
Within our overall strategy, we will focus our efforts this
year in several key areas:
Already we are setting the pace in sustainable mobility
– that most vital of tomorrow’s automotive technologies –
with the work we are doing in the development of fuel cell
engines and more efficient internal combustion engines.
Our efforts in the development of lightweight materials and
traffic-assist systems also support this.
The Internet and information technology are transforming
our lives, and we have long since integrated these value
drivers into our business. We have already done pioneering
work. We showed the world the first vehicle with direct
Internet access in 1997. We can deliver an on-line vehicle
financing decision within 15 minutes. And our supplier
program has been driven through a dedicated Internet
market place for seven years. In fact, last year, 81% of our
suppliers voted DaimlerChrysler the best company for
communication in supply management.
In short, e-business has been an important part of the
program of our divisions, company-wide, for several years.
In that time we have also been building the product and
service infrastructure that enables us to deliver on the
promise of the Internet. Now we are co-ordinating those
initiatives. And what is taking shape is an efficient, user-
friendly, business-to-business and business-to-customer
relationship together with our strong dealers, that already
far outstrips what our competitors have achieved.