Mercedes 2012 Annual Report Download - page 148

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Unit sales down from the prior year. Daimler Buses sold
32,100 buses and chassis worldwide in 2012 (2011: 39,700)
and was able to defend its market leadership in its core
markets in the segment for buses over eight tons gross vehicle
weight.

4.07 The decline in sales volume compared with
2011 was largely due to lower orders for bus chassis in Latin
America. The decrease in unit sales caused revenue to fall
by €0.5 billion to €3.9 billion. At minus €232 million, EBIT was
substantially lower than the figure recorded in 2011. Earnings
were negatively affected also by expenditure of €155 million
on the repositioning of our European and North American busi-
ness systems.
Reorganization of European and North American business
systems. Daimler Buses launched a growth and efficiency
campaign known as “GLOBE 2013” in order to generate addi-
tional growth potential and strengthen the division’s compet-
itiveness, particularly in Europe. This program for safeguarding
sustainable profitability is being rolled out along the entire
value chain and at all locations, and aims to utilize potential
for an earnings improvement in the magnitude of €200 million,
to be realized by the end of 2014. One of its objectives is to
intensify the links between all business locations in the European
production network. As part of “GLOBE 2013,” Daimler Buses
will also exploit existing growth potential in its traditional
markets and further expand business in new ones. In response
to the continually decreasing demand for city buses in North
America in recent years, we decided to discontinue production
of Orion buses in the United States and Canada. The American
bus manufacturer Motor Coach Industries International (MCI)
became the exclusive distributor of Setra coaches in the USA
during the year under review, and we received a 10% share
in MCI in return.
Varying business development in the regions. In Western
Europe, the Daimler Buses brands Mercedes-Benz and
Setra offer a complete range of city buses, intercity buses and
coaches, as well as Mercedes-Benz bus chassis. The sover-
eign-debt crisis had a dampening effect on customer demand
in this region, but sales of 5,900 units were nonetheless at
the level of the previous year.

4.08 Daimler Buses was thus
able to further strengthen its leading market position in
Western Europe with a market share of approximately 28%
(2011: 27%). In Turkey, we sold 1,100 units (2011: 1,100),
benefiting from a larger number of public-sector orders for city
buses than was the case in 2011. Sales of Mercedes-Benz
bus chassis in Latin America (excluding Mexico) declined by 29%
to 17,800 units. In Brazil, the stricter Euro V emissions stan-
Daimler Buses
As the market leader in its core markets, Daimler Buses focuses on ecologically responsible
innovations that also meet the financial requirements of its customers. With its presentation
of the new Mercedes-Benz Citaro Euro VI and Setra ComfortClass 500 models, Daimler Buses
is setting new standards in the premium bus segment. Market-related declines in demand
for bus chassis in Latin America and the ongoing difficult situation in the European bus market
had a negative impact on revenue and earnings last year. We began reorganizing our bus operations
in 2012, thus creating the conditions for further growth at Daimler Buses.
4.07
Daimler Buses
2012 2011 12/11
Amounts in millions of euros % change
EBIT -232 162 .
Revenue 3,929 4,418 -11
Return on sales (in %) -5.9 3.7 .
Investment in property, plant,
and equipment
82
103 -20
Research and development
expenditure
thereof capitalized
222
23
225
32
-1
-28
Production 31,384 40,391 -22
Unit sales 32,088 39,741 -19
Employees (December 31) 16,901 17,495 -3
4.08
Unit sales of Daimler Buses
2012 2011 12/11
% change
Total 32,088 39,741 -19
Western Europe 5,851 5,943 -2
thereof Germany 2,039 2,214 -8
NAFTA 3,943 4,042 -2
Latin America (excluding Mexico) 17,800 25,048 -29
Asia 1,886 1,667 +13
Other markets 2,608 3,041 -14