Mercedes 2006 Annual Report Download - page 13

We fully realize that we’re demanding a great deal of our teams. That’s all the more
reason I want to thank all our employees, on behalf of the Board of Management,
for their hard work and dedication. Without their expertise, professionalism and
personal commitment we could not succeed in our mission.
Passion, respect, integrity and discipline – these are the four core values that
guide our actions. They create a binding set of guidelines that help us to ensure
that our behavior satisfies the strictest ethical standards.
This means that compliance is an integral component of our corporate culture.
It also means that we strive to achieve a sustainable balance between individual
mobility and climate protection. We take our commitment to help preserve the
natural resources that are the foundation of life on earth very seriously. That’s why
we’re intensively working on developing realistic future-oriented solutions that
will further reduce the fuel consumption and emissions of our vehicles.
As a global company, we are also aware of our shared responsibility for the well-
being of society as a whole. We know that we must achieve a balance of economic
success, social responsibility and effective environmental protection to deliver
superior results in the long term. That is the objective of our Commitment to Excel-
lence, and whywe have chosen it as the motto of our Annual Report 2006.
We oweit toour unique heritage to achieve excellence.
We owe it to our customers.
And we owe it to you, our shareholders.
DaimlerChrysler is doing everything possible to live up to its commitment to excel-
lence – and I invite you to join us as we strive to achieve our goals.
Yourssincerely,
Dieter Zetsche
Commitment to Excellence |Chairman’s Letter | 9