Strong sustainable growth continues for Daimler, spurred on by China

Daimler AG announced sustainable and profitable growth in 2017, once again achieving an exceptional performance in unit sales which saw a 9 percent increase in 2017 for a record-breaking 3.3 million vehicles sold. This, no doubt, helped break revenue records, which totaled 164.3 billion euros ($204.7 billion), up 7 percent from 2016.

"We have continued our trend of profitable growth and once again set new records for unit sales, revenue and earnings," said Bodo Uebber, member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG responsible for Finance and Controlling and Daimler Financial Services.

Both Group EBIT and net profits reached historical highs as well, with the Daimler Group's EBIT hitting 14.7 billion euros, surpassing the previous year's significantly, and a net profit of 10.9 billion euros.

"The Daimler workforce has once again succeeded in breaking the records set in the previous year," said Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Dieter Zetsche, underscoring the company's accomplishments.

During the company's annual press conference, Zetsche further elaborated that in spite of the aforementioned achievements, this is no time to sit idly by.

Rather, rather the company will continue to push forward, innovating all areas of its business. And it's very evident that Daimler is doing just that.

Exemplifying these continued efforts, Daimler is consistently pursuing its electric offensive in China, the largest NEV market worldwide. Thus, they are creating the necessary conditions for local production of electric vehicles with the construction of a battery factory here.

Daimler and BAIC have agreed to invest 5 billion yuan in the production of Battery Electric Vehicles and battery localization at Beijing Benz Automotive Co Ltd, or BBAC.

The company aims to locally produce battery-powered electric vehicles under the EQ brand by 2019 at the BBAC joint venture in Beijing.

Cooperative efforts like this stand as a testament to the company's performance in the Chinese market, a big contributor to the outstanding results that Daimler garnered last year.

"Last year, thanks to the trust placed in us by our customers, Mercedes-Benz Cars delivered over 600,000 vehicles in China, marking a new sales record in a single market for our company worldwide," said Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, responsible for Greater China, Hubertus Troska.

"Our achievements in our core business inspire us to further deepen our foothold in China," he said.

"We will continue to actively participate in the development of China's automobile industry, especially in the New Energy Vehicle sector with our partners,"

The Stuttgart-based company's efforts to drive the future of mobility cannot be encapsulated by NEV technologies alone. It is pushing the limits and innovating in other areas as well.

Daimler is also attempting to change the way we experience vehicles, with its newly developed MBUX infotainment system.

The new infotainment system is able to be individualized and adapts to fit each unique user through learning - thanks to artificial intelligence - thus establishing an emotional connection between drivers, passengers and the vehicle.

MBUX has in fact already been integrated into the Mercedes-Benz A-Class which was released in Amsterdam on Feb 2 as the first vehicle of the brand to be equipped with the technology.

Seamlessly blending artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and a touchscreen user interface, the All New A-Class seeks to revolutionize mobility and has the potential to change the very way we think about driving and riding in cars.

The Concept A Sedan, which had a debut at Auto Shanghai last year, foreshadows the technologically-oriented models in a three-box body type for the Chinese market that are being developed as the company moves into the future.

The technological advances in mobility that Daimler is making and advocating are undoubtedly connected to the Chinese market - where customers prefer vehicles boasting a high-level of vehicle connectivity - and thus act as an impetus for a more rapid development of the Internet of Vehicles.

Mercedes-Benz and its partners in China has maintained a steady focus on providing local customers with a more personalized, digitalized customer experience, and the strategy has been effective, with China maintaining its position as the brand's largest market in 2017.

"Our shared focus on maintaining sustainable and healthy development will continue in 2018 - as we explore new ways of bringing our customers a forward-looking customer experience that meets their changing needs, from our own E-Commerce platform to our digitized dealer network and connectivity services," explained President and CEO of Beijing Mercedes-Benz Sales and Service Co Ltd, Nicholas Speeks.

"We remain dedicated to providing our Chinese customers with pioneering new products and services, but most importantly a brand experience that goes beyond what they expect from an automotive company," he added.

While Daimler has one foot in the future, it also stays grounded and pays homage to both the history of the company and the unique heritage of the various countries it serves.

A strategic partnership was recently forged with the Palace Museum in Beijing through the Mercedes-Benz Star Fund, the company's Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, celebrating 132 years as a brand and signifying its steadfast commitment to China's glorious history.

As it looks forward to what lies ahead in 2018, Daimler's strong recognition of its roots - as well as its vision for the future, embodied by the CASE (Connected, Autonomous, Shared, Electric) strategy - are bound to continue to guide it to success both in the Chinese market and globally.

Zetsche puts it this way: "We are making use of our technological expertise and the profitability of the core business to tackle the major issues of our industry's future. We describe them with the acronym CASE. That stands for the combination of connectivity, autonomous, sharing and electric mobility. So it's about nothing less than the reinvention of individual mobility."

(China Daily 02/05/2018 page19)