Mercedes 2006 Annual Report Download - page 12

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The Truck Group’s record earnings were also the result of a combination of outstanding
products and a successful efficiency-enhancing program we call “Global Excellence.”
Through innovative technologies, such as Active Brake Assist and BLUETEC, we con-
tinue to underscore our leadership in key areas such as safety and environmental
protection. Our new hybrid-drive Fuso Canter is the cleanest light truck on the world
market.
The Truck Group is also making substantial progress in the implementation of its
program to harmonize processes and components across its global brands – creating
powerful synergies from development all the way through production. As a result,
we have created the conditions that will enable us to achieve sustained success,
despite the cyclical nature of the commercial vehicle market. 2007, in which
we expect a double-digit decline of the U.S. and Japanese markets, will test the
effectiveness of our measures.
Our Buses unit remains the undisputed global market leader, and we’ve maintained
the strong marketposition of our Vans unit.
DaimlerChrysler Financial Services seamlessly continued its positive growth, increasing
its earnings for the fifth year in a row. Increased efficiency and improved pro-
cesses morethan compensated for the dampening effect of rising interest rates.
Overall, wearemaking solid progress in our efforts to create more efficient structures
throughout DaimlerChrysler. Thanks to the new management model, we are estab-
lishing standardized processes in Group-wide administration. These processes will
reduce the administrative work of our operating units, which, in turn, will become
faster and more efficient. They will also bring the performance of our administrative
activities up to our industry’s benchmark level.
We experienced intense and comprehensive change at DaimlerChrysler in 2006.
But there was, and is, no alternative but to strive for continuous improvement through-
out our global enterprise.