Report profile

The report 360 DEGREES – Facts on Sustainability 2008 (Facts 2008) provides an overview of Daimler’s activities with respect to sustainability. The period under review is the financial year 2007.

Facts 2008 takes its lead from the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which DaimlerChrysler joined in 2006 as an organizational stakeholder. In accordance with the new GRI guidelines Version 3.0 (G3), the information and data contained in this report were compiled in line with the principles of balance, comparability, accuracy, timeliness, reliability, and clarity. Facts 2008 has been classified as a Level A+ report in line with the G3 definition, as assessed and confirmed by the GRI.

A comprehensive version of the GRI Index can be found here. This website contains a list of all the GRI indicators, as well as detailed information and explanations of all indicators. Our website also contains a GRI Global Compact Index, which cross-references the “communication on progress” as specified by the Global Compact with G3 reporting.

Scope of reporting and data acquisition methods

Economy. The information on economic interrelationships presented in Facts 2008 is essentially based on data from the 2007 Daimler Annual Report. The Management Report and Notes sections, from which we have quoted in this report, were audited by the financial auditing firm KPMG Deutsche Treuhand-Gesellschaft AG. (For details see Annual Report 2007)

Ecology. Daimler has been systematically compiling key environmental data from its German plants since 1992. In 1997 and 1998 its data acquisition was gradually extended to include production plants outside Germany. Since 2002, the acquisition and analysis of the data have been handled with the aid of a database. The data in this report reflect the structure of the Group in financial year 2007 and include all relevant production plants. To ensure comparability with data for previous years as far as possible, the data for the entire period covered do not include those parts of the company in which Daimler is no longer the majority shareholder. For this reason, the timelines may differ from those of previously published data. New parts of the company have been included from the time at which they became part of Daimler. The environmental data for 2007 refer to a total of 62 entire or partial business locations.

Employees. The facts and figures related to the topic of Employees/ Human Resources are based on the 2007 Daimler Annual Report. The reporting on human resources data is primarily conducted by means of the “HR ePARS” electronic human resources planning and reporting tool, which employs data from all consolidated companies within the Daimler Group. This information is complemented by data acquired with the aid of the “ePeople” electronic human resources management system. In the copy and diagrams in the “Workforce” section, it is indicated whether the data relate to the entire Group or only to parts thereof.

Current developments. This report focuses on the current situation with regard to sustainability for the business year 2007. The data from the period following the sale of the majority shares of Chrysler refer to the continued activities of the Daimler Group. Unless otherwise indicated, the corresponding Chrysler data have been removed from the calculations.

Liability disclaimer. The compilation of the data in this report has been carried out by Daimler with extreme care. Nevertheless, errors cannot be entirely excluded. Insofar as Facts 2008 contains forward-looking statements, these are based exclusively on data currently available and on assumptions founded on current forecasts. Although such projections are drawn up with the greatest care, a great variety of unforeseeable factors may lead to deviations. We neither intend nor assume an obligation to continually update statements concerning future developments. The content of the report was examined and released by the responsible professional staff. There was no examination by a third party, such as a financial auditing firm.

Please note that the term employee refers to both male and female staff members at Daimler.

Daimler published the last sustainability report in July 2007 under the title Facts on Sustainability 2007.

Editorial deadline for this report: May 15, 2008