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Until the year 2005, the pension agreements of the German
Board of Management members included a commitment to an
annual retirement pension, calculated as a proportion of the
base salary and depending on the years of service. Those pension
rights remain and have been frozen at that level (70% for
Dr. Dieter Zetsche, 69% Guenther Fleig, 60% for Dr. Ruediger Grube
and Dr. Thomas Weber and 50% for Andreas Renschler and
Bodo Uebber). The pension payments begin in the form of a retire-
ment pension when a member’s contract of service ends or
after his 60th birthday, or in the form of an invalidity pension when
a member’s service contract ends before his 60th birthday due
to disability. An annual increase of 3.5% is effected. Similar to the
retirement pension of the German workforce, arrangements for
widows and orphans are also included.
Effective January 1, 2006, those pension agreements were
converted into a new pension system. Each Board of Management
member is credited with a capital component each year. This
capital component comprises an amount equal to 15% of the sum
of the Board of Management member’s fixed base salary and
the annual bonus that was actually achieved, multiplied by an age
factor equivalent to a certain rate of return, at present 6%. This
pension is payable at the age of 60 at the earliest.
In the year 2008, the pension provision was increased by service
costs of €2.5 million (2007: €2.2 million; 2006: €4.0 million).
No severance payments are foreseen for Board of Management
members in the case of early termination of their service con-
tracts. Solely in the case of early termination of a service contract
by mutual consent, the Board of Management service contracts
include a commitment to payment of the base salary and to pro-
vision of a company car until the end of the original service
period. Such persons are only entitled to payment of the perfor-
mance-related component of remuneration pro rata for the
period until they leave the Group. Entitlement to payment of the
performance-related component of remuneration with a long-
term incentive is defined by the exercise conditions specified in
the respective plans. For the period beginning after the end
of original service period, Board of Management members can
receive pension payments in the amounts of the commitments
granted until 2005 as described in the previous section, as well
as the use of a company car.
As a result of these provisions and the fact that in accordance
with a Supervisory Board resolution of 2006, Daimler AG Board
of Management service contracts – both initial contracts and
extensions – generally have a term of only three years, Daimler AG
is significantly below the limit for severance compensation
of two years’ remuneration suggested by the German Corporate
Governance Code.
The payments made in 2008 to former members of the Board
of Management of Daimler AG and their survivors amounted to
€19.1 million (2007: €67.9 million; 2006: €25.1 million). The pen-
sion provisions for former members of the Board of Management
and their survivors amounted to €167.0 million as of December 31,
2008 (2007: €175.3 million).
No advances or loans were made to members of the Board of
Management of Daimler AG.
Supervisory Board. The remuneration paid in 2008 to the
members of the Supervisory Board of Daimler AG for their
services to the Group totaled €2.8 million (2007: €2.1 million;
2006: €2.1 million).
Except for the remuneration paid to the members of the Super-
visory Board representing the employees in accordance with their
contracts of employment, no remuneration was paid for services
provided personally beyond the aforementioned board and com-
mittee activities, in particular for advisory or agency services in
2008, 2007 and 2006.
No advances or loans were made to members of the Supervisory
Board of Daimler AG.
36. Principal accountant fees
The fees billed by the independent auditors KPMG for profession-
al services in 2008, 2007 and 2006 are comprised of:
2006
20072008
50
2
1
2
55
62
4
3
4
73
63
3
2
3
71
Audit fees
Audit related fees
Tax fees
All other fees
in millions of €