Mercedes 2015 Annual Report Download - page 74

B | COMBINED MANAGEMENT REPORT | ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT 81
The European market developed significantly better than
at the beginning of 2015. In a comparatively favorable economic
environment, it grew by approximately 17%. The Turkish market
weakened significantly following a positive start to the year, but
grew in the full year by approximately 9% due to purchases
brought forward because of the upcoming introduction of the
Euro VI emissions standard. On the other hand, demand for
trucks in Brazil slumped drastically because of the severe eco-
nomic recession, falling to about half the volume of 2014;
the market was additionally weakened towards the end of the
year by the continued worsening of financing possibilities
in the context of the government’s FINAME program.
From Daimler’s perspective, the main Asian markets were rather
mixed. The Japanese market for light-, medium- and heavy-
duty trucks remained close to its solid prior-year level despite
weak economic dynamism. Indonesia, however, was affected
by the growth slowdown in China and by falling raw-material
prices, which resulted in a contraction of 32% in the overall
truck market. Demand in India developed positively, with growth
of about 10% in the market for medium- and heavy-duty trucks.
With a drop of more than 40%, demand for trucks in Russia
decreased substantially due to the country’s economic recession.
And China, the world’s biggest truck market, contracted by
almost 30%.
Demand for vans in Western Europe continued to grow in 2015.
The market volume increased by 11% for mid-size and large
vans and by 8% for small vans. In particular, the markets of the
countries of southern Europe recovered significantly, and
distinct growth was apparent also in Germany. In the United
States, the market for large vans continued to develop very
positively with growth of 14%. In China, however, there was
significant contraction of the market segment we address
there. Due to the unfavorable economic situation, the market
for large vans in Latin America also contracted sharply.
The bus market of Western Europe significantly surpassed
its weak prior-year level. There was positive impetus in particular
from the coach segment, which profited from expansion
of the business of long-distance buses in Germany. Demand in
Eastern Europe was at the prior-year level, with support from
the growing coach segment in Turkey. As a result of the difficult
economic and political situation in Latin America, market
conditions there deteriorated significantly. In Brazil alone, market
volume decreased by 40% compared with 2014.
Business development
Unit sales
Daimler significantly increased its total unit sales in the year 2015,
as had been forecast in Annual Report 2014. Sales of approx-
imately 2.9 million vehicles surpassed the prior-year figure by 12%.
This growth was mainly driven by the Mercedes-Benz Cars
division (+16%) and to a lesser extent by the Mercedes-Benz
Vans division (+9%). The forecasts made at the beginning of
the year were therefore confirmed. At Daimler Trucks, growth
of just over 1% was lower than we had originally anticipated,
primarily due to the weak condition of markets in Latin America
and Indonesia. Unit sales of buses, which we had expected
to increase slightly at the beginning of the year, were significantly
below the prior-year level. This was mainly the result of the
very weak markets for bus chassis in Latin America.
The Mercedes-Benz Cars division once again accelerated along
its growth path in 2015, with 16% growth in unit sales to the
new record of 2,001,400 vehicles. The Mercedes-Benz brand
increased its unit sales by 15% to a record of 1,880,100 vehicles.
We are the number one in the premium segment in Germany as
well as in Canada and Japan. We also significantly improved
our position in China.
In Western Europe, Mercedes-Benz sold a total of 678,200
vehicles, surpassing the prior-year number by 11%. Growth was
particularly strong in Spain (+24%), the United Kingdom (+17%)
and Italy (+16%). But also in Germany, we increased our unit sales
by 4% to 259,200 vehicles. Unit sales in NAFTA continued to
develop positively, with new records set in the United States (+5%)
as well as in Canada (+23%) and Mexico (+10%). In China, we
achieved growth of 41% – considerably stronger than the overall
market and our main competitors. We posted significant
growth also in Japan (+13%), South Korea (+30%), India (+31%),
Brazil (+67%) and Turkey (+35%).