Mercedes 2013 Annual Report Download - page 81

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C | Combined Management Report | Economic Conditions and Business Development
The business of Daimler Financial Services developed posi-
tively once again and set new records in the year under review.
As we had forecast in Annual Report 2012, worldwide contract
volume continued to grow and reached €83.5 billion (+4%).
Adjusted for exchange-rate effects, there was an increase of 11%.
New business grew compared with the previous year by 6%
to €40.5 billion. All regions contributed to this expansion. Also
in 2013, Daimler Financial Services supported small and
medium-sized enterprises as well as international corporations
in numerous countries with the financing and management
of their vehicles and fleets. There was a total of 357,000
contracts with commercial clients on the books at the end
of 2013, representing growth of 9% compared with a year
earlier. We expanded our business also in the field of insurance:
The number of 1.27 million automotive policies was higher
than ever before (+20%). We further expanded our business with
innovative mobility services in 2013. The car2go mobility
concept was established in 25 cities of Europe and North America
by the end of the year. With a total of almost 600,000 cus-
tomers, car2go was the market leader for flexible short-term
car rentals. The “moovel” mobility platform, which intelligently
links up various mobility services and shows customers
the best way to get from A to B, started operating in the cities
of Nuremberg and Munich and in the Rhine-Ruhr region in
2013. In November, the Park2gether pilot project went into
operation in Berlin und Hamburg; this service brings owners
of parking spaces together with persons seeking parking spaces
through a special website. E see pages 167 ff
Order situation. The Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks,
Mercedes-Benz Vans and Daimler Buses divisions produce
vehicles predominantly to order in accordance with customers’
specifications. While doing so, we flexibly adjust the production
numbers to changing levels of demand. Overall, the order
situation of the Daimler Group developed very positively in 2013.
Due to strong demand in the United States and various emerg-
ing markets, the number of orders placed with Mercedes-Benz
Cars was once again significantly higher than the high prior-
year level. This was driven on the product side primarily by the
new models in the compact class, the continued strong
success of the SUVs, and the new E-Class. Due to the stable
demand, we also increased our production volumes. At the
end of the year, the order backlog was significantly higher than
a year before. The order situation improved compared with
the previous year also at Daimler Trucks. This was primarily
due to the renewal of the entire product range, but also to pur-
chases being brought forward ahead of the new Euro VI
emission limits that came into force in the European Union in
2014. The total number of orders received by Daimler Trucks
was higher than in 2012 and the order backlog at year-end was
also higher than a year before.
Revenue. The Daimler Group increased its total revenue
in the year 2013 by 3% to €118.0 billion; adjusted for exchange-
rate effects, there was an increase of 7%. This means that
the positive business development of 2012 continued, as we had
expected at the beginning of 2013. Revenue growth acceler-
ated significantly in the second half of the year due to the market
success of our new vehicle models. As we had forecast in
Annual Report 2012, the divisions Mercedes-Benz Cars (+4%),
Mercedes-Benz Vans (+3%), Daimler Buses (+4%) and Daimler
Financial Services (+7%) increased their business volumes, in
some cases by significant margins. However, the revenue
of €31.5 billion (2012: €31.4 billion) posted by Daimler Trucks
was not quite at the level we had anticipated. Exchange-rate
effects played an important role in this respect, especially the
significant depreciation of the Japanese yen against the euro.
In regional terms, Daimler achieved revenue growth in Western
Europe (+4% to €41.1 billion) and in the NAFTA region (+3% to
€32.9 billion). In Asia, our expectations were not quite fulfilled:
The Daimler Group’s business volume in that region decreased
by 3% to €24.5 billion as a result of the weak first half of the year
and also due to exchange-rate effects.
C .11
Revenue by division
2013 2012 13/12
In millions of euros % change
Daimler Group 117,982 114,297 +3
Mercedes-Benz Cars 64,307 61,660 +4
Daimler Trucks 31,473 31,389 +0
Mercedes-Benz Vans 9,369 9,070 +3
Daimler Buses 4,105 3,929 +4
Daimler Financial Services 14,522 13,550 +7
Consolidated revenue by region
In billions of euros
25
20
15
10
5
0
GermanyWestern Europe
(excl. Germany) Asia
NAFTA region
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
30
35
Other markets
C.10