Mercedes 2009 Annual Report Download - page 70

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has been producing luxury coaches for the Indian market since
the end of 2008. And Daimler Trucks is investing in a new plant
in Chennai, India, where light, medium and heavy-duty trucks
are to be produced for the local market. In Russia, we are utiliz-
ing the opportunities offered by our strategic partnership with
Kamaz, with whom we established two joint ventures in Novem-
ber 2009. The target is to produce, import and distribute
Mer
cedes-Benz and Fuso trucks and also to distribute Mercedes-
Benz and Setra buses. In the United Arab Emirates, we have
established a leasing and sales-financing company for private
and commercial customers together with local partners; this
will provide further support for our business in the most impor-
tant car market in the Arab region.
–Further development of innovative and customer-oriented
services and technologies. We are working intensively on
the development of innovative, customer-oriented technologies
along the entire automotive value chain. Because the demands
placed on mobility will become increasingly varied, in the future
we will have various drive systems for our vehicles. In the
con
text of our “Road to Emission-free Mobility” strategy, we
are
therefore working in parallel on several drive technologies:
We are continually improving our vehicles with ultra-modern
com
bustion engines using the latest technologies. At the
same time, we aim to achieve further efficiency improvements
with
our hybrid drive systems. Electric vehicles with battery
power and fuel-cell drive systems will make an important con-
tribution
to sustainable mobility. We also support the devel-
opment, pro
duction and distribution of clean fuels for combus-
tion engines
as well as alternative energy sources for emis-
sion-free driving.
The radical changes in vehicle technology that seem likely in the
coming years present great challenges for the entire industry.
But at the same time, the resulting renewal of vehicle stocks in
favor of economical and environmentally friendly vehicles will
offer us good sales opportunities. And we intend to utilize these
opportunities as technology leaders in the field of sustainable
mobility (see pages 10 ff and 136 ff).
In view of the extent of the upcoming technological challenges,
in
some areas we have entered into strategic alliances or
partner
ships. For example, we are working with Evonik Indus-
tries AG on
the research, development and in the future also
production of
lithium-ion batteries, and we are cooperating with
Tesla Motors Inc. in the field of electric vehicles. And together
with various German and foreign electricity companies, we are
accelerating the develop
ment of an infrastructure for electric
vehicles in the e-mobility
project. Furthermore, we have signed
a letter of intent with lead
ing industrial companies in Ger-
many with the aim of securing
widespread national supply of
hydrogen – a precondition for the sale of fuel-cell vehicles in
large volumes.
Traffic safety will be a key element of sustainable mobility in
the future. It is no coincidence that in September 2009, the EU
Commission recognized Daimler’s pioneering role in the field
of vehicle safety with the eSafety Award, because already today,
our cars and commercial vehicles are the safest vehicles in
their respective market segments. And within the context of our
“Vision of Accident-free Driving,” substantial investment has
been planned for traffic safety in the coming years: We intend
to remain the benchmark for the competition with our pioneer-
ing innovations in the field of safety also in the future.
We apply the results of our research and development in a wide
range of very different vehicles, because through the close
networking of our R&D activities, we can ensure that the entire
Group benefits from new technologies. For example, through
the modularization of electronic drive components, we utilize
synergies across all vehicles and segments and thus enhance
the efficiency of all our business operations.