Dear readers,

We believe that one of our core missions is to make mobility sustainable and future-oriented. After all, we invented the automobile and we are passionate about shaping its future. We are ready and willing to accept a pioneering role when it comes to clean and safe automobiles. We therefore increased our investments in environmental protection by more than ten percent to € 1.85 billion in 2007.

The strategic approach we have described in our “road map for sustainable mobility” is based on three pillars:

• the ongoing optimization of our vehicles with innovative internal combustion engines;
• the additional improvement of efficiency through hybridization – in other words, the combination of a combustion engine with an electric motor;
• and zero-emission driving with fuel cell and battery drive systems.

One focus of our road map is the reduction of our vehicles’ fuel consumption and thus their CO₂ emissions as well. In fact, because of our holistic approach our goal is to reduce all emissions across the board.

For example, through our innovative BLUETEC technology for diesel engines we have set worldwide benchmarks. This technology effectively reduces all emissions, especially nitrogen oxides, and makes diesels as clean as gasoline engines. Since the introduction of BLUETEC in our commercial vehicles in 2005, we’ve sold more than 150,000 BLUETEC trucks in Europe. We introduced this innovative technology in our passenger vehicles in the U.S. in October 2006. In Europe, BLUETEC has been available since the end of 2007 in the E 300 BlueTEC.

BLUETEC diesel vehicles have the potential to generate even fewer emissions than the world’s most stringent emissions standards. In recognition of this achievement, the E 320 BlueTEC in the U.S. was named “World Green Car of the Year 2007.” BLUETEC has helped the diesel engine to stage a comeback in the U.S. that may have been surprising to many. For our passenger car model series with a diesel option, the proportion of diesels sold in the U.S. in 2007 was already 16 percent, and the success of our BLUETEC trucks in Europe shows that our environmentally friendly high-tech innovations are also winners in the market. The focus of our “Road to the Future” strategy is to enhance the fuel economy and reduce the emissions of our vehicles through modular technological concepts. We are successfully doing just that through our BlueEFFICIENCY models, for example, which we will introduce in various model series starting in 2008. This campaign was launched in February 2008 when we presented our two C - Class models, the C 180 KOMPRESSOR BlueEFFICIENCY and the C 200 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY.

BlueEFFICIENCY consists of various packages of measures, from aerodynamic fine-tuning to energy management. Depending on the model in question, these measures generate fuel savings of up to 12 percent compared to the basic model without any reduction of safety or comfort. Starting in 2009 we will also successively launch various hybrid models on the market: BlueHYBRIDs with a gasoline engine and BlueTEC HYBRIDs with a diesel engine. The combination of an internal combustion engine and an electric motor makes it possible to reduce fuel consumption by up to 30 percent.

A central role is played here by lithium-ion battery technology, a field in which we recently achieved a significant breakthrough. We are the world’s first manufacturer to have succeeded in adapting lithium-ion technology to the demanding requirements of automotive applications. The technology was previously used primarily in the field of consumer electronics. We have safeguarded this achievement by taking out 25 patents, and we will launch our development on the market as early as 2009 in the S 400 BlueHYBRID.

Dr. Thomas Weber
Member of the Board of Management
Group Research and Development Mercedes-Benz Cars

Prof. Dr. Herbert Kohler
Vice President Group Research and Advanced Engineering
Vehicle and Powertrain, Chief Environmental Officer