The planned restructuring of the Group in the fall of 2007 represents both an opportunity and an obligation for senior management to step up its efforts to integrate social and ecological concerns into the Group’s corporate strategy. At the beginning of this year, climate protection and the role played by the transportation sector were the subject of more vigorous public debate than ever before. The disturbing conclusions published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Stern Review, as well as the possible failure of the voluntary self-commitment agreement reached by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) have turned a bright spotlight on the demands that the automotive sector take action.

Against this background, despite the advances already made, DaimlerChrysler needs to define even more ambitious goals and measures for developing alternative drive systems and non-fossil fuels (4) and for reducing fuel consumption (5). The Institute for Applied Ecology appreciates the Group’s ambitious goal of becoming best in class with regard to the specific CO2 emissions of its vehicles by means of vehicle-related measures. It also appreciates the concrete targets the Group has set for its high-volume models. These targets must also be applied to the average fuel consumption of the Group’s fleet. On the basis of the Group’s contribution to the ACEA’s self-commitment goals for 2008, the Institute for Applied Ecology believes that the Group should strive for an average emissions level of at most 140 g/km in the EU by 2012, assuming that all European auto-makers will agree that they can achieve at least the currently discussed average value of 130 g/km. Many of the research and development initiatives to this end that were begun last year, such as the work on CDI and CGI engines and hybridization, must be intensified.

The Group would be in a class of its own instead of just best in class if it also strived to achieve the currently debated 2012 target figure of 130 g/km through additional vehicle modifications such as a reduction of vehicle performance that does not sacrifice comfort.

The successful marketing of especially economical and fuel-efficient models is a further key area in reducing average fleet consumption in the future and in promoting the sustainable mobility of our customers (6). Measures for making the Group’s customers more aware of climate protection issues range from addressing the topic in product advertising to offering free driver training sessions that will enable motorists to reduce their vehicles’ fuel consumption by up to 25 percent.

By pursuing a holistic approach, DaimlerChrysler will be able to reduce fuel consumption in a way that will be comparable to past achievements in the promotion of ambitious emission standards (7). In this context, the Institute for Applied Ecology welcomes two measures scheduled for implementation in 2008: the earlier-than-planned introduction of -BLUETEC technology in Europe and the installation of closed-system particle filters in the smart fortwo cdi.

The litmus test for a successful sustainability strategy will be the Group’s successful pursuit of a strategy that is rigorously geared toward climate protection. We assume that the Group views the widespread public debate concerning climate protection as a call to intensify its efforts to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions and that it will now proceed at a more rapid pace than it did last year.

Christian Hochfeld, Deputy Director, Öko-Institut e.V.
Berlin, June 1, 2007