Mercedes boss Dieter Zetsche says the company “will continue to be the pioneers of mobility” as he announced that autonomous driving will be a central objective for the future.
Speaking at an annual meeting of shareholders, Dr Dieter Zetsche said autonomous driving will be one of the “four pillars” of Daimler, which owns the Mercedes marque.
The other three pillars are:
- new products and new design language;
- flexible and efficient production network around the globe; and
- digitization to establish new business models.
“These are the four pillars of the Daimler’s strategy, now and in the future. They are the basis of the success we enjoy today – and pave the way for the course we have set for the future. They offer us a lot of great opportunities,” said Zetsche.
Dr Manfred Bischoff, chairman of the supervisory board of Daimler, added that “2015 was the most successful year in the history of Daimler”, with the company achieving new records for unit sales, revenue and earnings.
With a total workforce of 284,015 employees (2014: 279,972), the Group sold more than 2.9 million vehicles worldwide (2014: 2.5 million), posted revenue of €149.5 billion (2014: €129.9 billion) and achieved EBIT of €13.2 billion (2014: €10.8 billion).
EBIT from the ongoing business increased by 36 per cent to €13.8 billion (2014: €10.1 billion), and net profit amounted to €8.9 billion (2014: €7.3 billion).
