Mercedes 1999 Annual Report Download - page 77

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INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT
71
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance
sheets of DaimlerChrysler AG and subsidiaries
(“DaimlerChrysler”) as of December 31, 1999 and 1998, and
the related consolidated statements of income, changes in
stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years in
the three-year period ended December 31, 1999. These con-
solidated financial statements are the responsibility of
DaimlerChrysler’s management. Our responsibility is to ex-
press an opinion on these consolidated financial statements
based on our audits. We did not audit the financial state-
ments of DaimlerChrysler Corporation or certain of its con-
solidated subsidiaries (“DaimlerChrysler Corporation”),
which statements reflect total assets constituting 29 percent
and 43 percent at December 31, 1999 and 1998, and total
revenues constituting 43 percent, 45 percent and 46 per-
cent for the years ended December 31, 1999, 1998 and 1997,
of the related consolidated totals. Those statements were
audited by other auditors whose report has been furnished
to us, and our opinion, insofar as it relates to the amounts
included for DaimlerChrysler Corporation, is based solely
on the report of the other auditors.
We conducted our audits in accordance with German and
United States generally accepted auditing standards. Those
standards require that we plan and perform the audit to ob-
tain reasonable assurance about whether the financial state-
ments are free of material misstatement. An audit includes
examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the
amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An
audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used
and significant estimates made by management, as well as
evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We
believe that our audits and the report of the other auditors
provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In 1998 and 1997, DaimlerChrysler accounted for a material
joint venture in accordance with the proportionate method
of consolidation as is permitted under the Seventh Directive
of the European Community and the Standards of the Inter-
national Accounting Standards Committee. In our opinion,
United States generally accepted accounting principles re-
quired that such joint venture be accounted for using the
equity method of accounting. The United States Securities
and Exchange Commission stated that it would not object to
DaimlerChrysler’s use of the proportionate method of con-
solidation as supplemented by the disclosures in Note 3.
In our opinion, based on our audits and the report of the
other auditors, except for the use of the proportionate
method of accounting in 1998 and 1997, as discussed in the
preceding paragraph, the consolidated financial statements
referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the
financial position of DaimlerChrysler as of December 31,
1999 and 1998, and the results of their operations and their
cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period
ended December 31, 1999, in conformity with United States
generally accepted accounting principles.
Stuttgart
February 14, 2000
KPMG Deutsche Treuhand-Gesellschaft
Aktiengesellschaft
Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft
Prof. Dr. Wiedmann Schmid
Wirtschaftsprüfer Wirtschaftsprüfer
I N D E P E N D E N T A U D I T O R S ’ R E P O R T