Mercedes 2008 Annual Report Download - page 97

making it possible to produce designs that are more production-
focused, while also achieving additional material cost savings and
further reducing the expenditure associated with quality issues
and goodwill payments.
Sindelfingen receives awards for production quality and effi-
ciency. The extensive initiatives we have launched to improve
quality are paying off. Our Sindelfingen plant, for example, received
several awards in the year under review: J.D. Power & Associates
presented the plant with its Platinum Award for best plant quality
worldwide, while the German industry publication Produktion
named Sindelfingen “Factory of the Year” for its outstanding quali-
ty and efficiency in C-Class production. J.D. Power also pre-
sented two Mercedes-Benz models – the E-Class and the CLK-
Class – with its Gold Award for top initial quality.
New plant to be built in Hungary. In June 2008, Daimler made
the decision to build an new plant in Kecskemét, Hungary. The
facility will help ensure the sustained profitable expansion of the
Mercedes-Benz compact-segment product range from two to
four models. Plans call for the Kecskemét facility to begin manu-
facturing two models of the A-Class and B-Class successor
generations in 2012 in a production network involving the Rastatt
plant. Investment in the project will total approximately €800
million.
Key brand pledge of “Appreciation.” We bring to life our brand
pledge of “Appreciation” in our dealings with customers every
day – and our success is reflected in our customer satisfaction
ratings around the world and the outstanding results we have
achieved in numerous service-center evaluations. In 2008, for
example, respected publications such as ADAC Motorwelt,
Autobild and Autozeitung confirmed that we have the best pas-
senger car service centers in Germany.
1,126
250
448
173
93
161
139
1,273
733
332
282
251
159
37
-5
-9
+16
-25
-13
-11
+35
-2
-6
-3
+2
-0
+14
-20
Unit sales in 20081
08/07
units % change
Formula One world champion. Team Vodafone McLaren
Mercedes team won the Formula One Drivers’ Championship
with Lewis Hamilton in the fourth world title for the McLaren-
Mercedes partnership. Lewis Hamilton finished first in five of the
18 races and won the title by just one point in the last race of
an extremely exciting season, becoming the youngest champion
in Formula One history. The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
team was vice world champion in the Constructors’ Championship.
Once again, the reliable and powerful Mercedes-Benz Formula
One engine made a vital contribution to this success – the result
of our engineers’ continuous hard work. And the Mercedes-Benz
Bank/AMG Mercedes team won the Teams’ Classification in the
2008 German Touring Car Championships (DTM), while finishing
second in the Drivers’ Classification.
The new Mercedes-Benz E-Class offers comprehensive safety, maximum comfort and up to 23 percent better fuel consumption.
1,000
Divisions |Mercedes-Benz Cars |93
Mercedes-Benz
thereof A/B-Class
C/CLK/SLK-Class
E/CLS-Class
S/CL/SL-Class/SLR/Maybach
M/R/GL/GLK/G-Class
smart
Mercedes-Benz Cars 2
thereof Western Europe
thereof Germany
NAFTA
thereof United States
Asia/Pacific
thereof Japan
1 Group sales (including leased vehicles)
2 The figure for 2008 includes 8,200 Mitsubishi vehicles manufactured and/or
sold in South Africa.
Divisions |Mercedes-Benz Cars |93