Mercedes 2013 Annual Report Download - page 74

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The Daimler Financial Services division supports the sales
of the Daimler Group’s automotive brands in 40 countries.
Its product portfolio primarily comprises tailored financing
and leasing packages for customers and dealers, but it also
provides services such as insurance, fleet management, invest-
ment products and credit cards, as well as various mobility
services such as the flexible car2go concept. The main areas
of the division’s activities are in Western Europe and North
America, and increasingly also in Asia. In 2013, more than 40%
of the vehicles sold by the Daimler Group were financed
or leased by Daimler Financial Services. Its contract volume
of €83.5 billion covers nearly 3.1 million vehicles. Daimler
Financial Services also holds a 45% interest in the Toll Collect
consortium, which operates an electronic road-charging
system for trucks above 12 metric tons on highways in Germany.
Daimler still held a 7.4% equity interest in the European
Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), a leading
company in the aerospace and defense industries, at
the end of 2012. Those shares were sold on April 17, 2013.
Through a broad network of holdings, joint ventures and
cooperations, Daimler is active in the global automotive industry
and related sectors. The statement of investments of Daimler
AG in accordance with Section 313 of the German Commercial
Code (HGB) can be found in the Notes to the Consolidated
Financial Statements. E see Note 39
Portfolio changes and strategic cooperations
By means of targeted investments and future-oriented partner-
ships, we strengthened our core business, pushed forward
with new technologies and utilized additional growth potential
in 2013. At the same time, we focused on the continuous
further development of our existing business portfolio.
Daimler AG acquires 12% stake in BAIC Motor. In November
2013, we acquired a 12% equity interest in our longstanding
partner BAIC Motor, thus taking an important step within the
framework of our China strategy. This makes Daimler the
first non-Chinese automobile manufacturer to acquire a stake
in a Chinese carmaker. BAIC Motor is the car subsidiary of
the Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC Group), which is one of the
leading automotive companies in China. In the past ten years,
the partners Daimler and BAIC have built up a long-term strategic
partnership, benefiting both companies as well as the Chinese
automotive industry. These shared activities include the joint
venture BBAC, which has been producing Mercedes-Benz
cars since 2006 and, as the first Mercedes-Benz plant for car
engines outside Germany, four- and six-cylinder engines
since 2013. In addition, jointly produced medium- and heavy-
duty trucks of the Auman brand have been rolling off the
assembly lines at Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive Co., Ltd.
(BFDA) since mid-2012. Another important component of
the partnership is Beijing Mercedes-Benz Sales Service Corpo-
ration (BMBS), which started operations in March 2013.
BMBS is responsible for all sales activities for imported and
locally produced Mercedes-Benz cars. The joint venture
is a major pillar for the sustained growth of Mercedes-Benz
in China.
Progress with the cooperation between Daimler and
Renault-Nissan. The cooperation between Daimler and Renault-
Nissan developed very positively in 2013. The partnership,
which started in April 2010 with three projects, has meanwhile
grown to ten major projects and now also includes initiatives
in North America and Asia.
A good example of how the partners profit from the cooperation
is the joint production of Mercedes-Benz four-cylinder gasoline
engines in Decherd (Tennessee, USA). Just one and a half years
after ground breaking in 2012, the plant building has now
been completed. Start of production is planned for mid-2014.
The engines produced in Decherd are to be used in the new
Mercedes-Benz C-Class, which will be produced at the Daimler
plant in Tuscaloosa (Alabama, USA), and in new products
from Infiniti. The development work for a shared family of new
three- and four-cylinder engines with turbocharging and
direct fuel injection is also making good progress. These engines
will include the latest technologies, allowing significantly
reduced fuel consumption.
Cooperation in the commercial-vehicle business is also being
intensified. It is planned that Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus
Corporation (MFTBC), which is part of Daimler Trucks Asia,
will be supplied with the Nissan van, NV350 Urvan. That vehicle
will be sold by Mitsubishi Fuso in selected export markets.
This form of strategic supply has been successfully implemented
since early 2013 also for light-duty trucks – the FUSO Canter
Guts (payload of 2.0 tons) and the NT450 Atlas (payload of
1.5 tons) – in order to expand the respective product portfolio
to new segments.
The smart/Twingo project is also progressing as planned.
Production preparations are now in full swing for the new two-
seater smart at the smart plant in Hambach (France) and
for the four-seater smart and the Renault Twingo successor
at the Renault plant in Novo Mesto (Slovenia). Market launch
of the car variants is planned for the second half of 2014.
The new generation of the smart and the Renault Twingo are
being developed on the basis of a shared architecture but
will continue to be independent products with unmistakable
brand features.
Agreement on the commercialization of fuel cells.
“Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation” (AFCC) was already
founded as a joint venture by Daimler (50.1%), Ford (30%)
and Ballard (19.9%) in 2008. In January 2013, Daimler AG,
Ford Motor Company and our strategic cooperation partner
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. reached an agreement to continue
with the commercialization of fuel cells. The aim of this venture
is to jointly develop a fuel-cell system and thus to reduce
development costs. All three partners will make equal invest-
ments in the project.