articles BRAZIL: DaimlerChrysler says plant will stay open but is coy on details DaimlerChrysler of Brazil said in a statement

that the Mercedes Car Group board has approved a "concept of production" that will allow the continued operation of its Brazilian car plant in Juiz de Fora city, Minas Gerais state. USA: Billionaire loses fraud lawsuit against DaimlerChrysler DaimlerChrysler reportedly claimed vindication on Friday after a US judge ruled no laws were broken in the 1998 linkup between Daimler-Benz and Chrysler, one of the biggest deals in automotive history. GERMANY: Shareholders give CEO a rough ride at DaimlerChrysler AGM The chief executive of DaimlerChrysler, Jrgen Schrempp, reportedly has faced a hail of abuse from angry shareholders over costly management blunders and an alarming slide in quality at Mercedes.

Allies and alloys DaimlerChrysler employees receive the "wealth of opportunities" available at a large corporation without having to sacrifice their individuality. The company "is based on the concept of steady improvement" and reinforces that with its emphasis on education, requiring employees to take extensive training on company time. Employees also enjoy the communal atmosphere of the corporation. "DaimlerChrysler has all the resources of any large multinational corporation, but often feels like a small company," says one amiable insider. ......

History
Daimler AG is a German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and engines, which dates back more than a century. An Agreement of Mutual Interest was signed on May 1, 1924 between Benz & Cie (founded 1883) of Karl Benz and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (founded 1890) of Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. Both companies continued to manufacture their separate automobile and internal combustion engine brands until, on June 28, 1926, when Benz & Cie. and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft AG formally mergedbecoming Daimler-Benz AGand agreed that thereafter, all of the factories would use the brand name of Mercedes-Benz on their automobiles. In 2007, when the Chrysler group was sold off to Cerberus Capital Management (see below), the name[note 1] of the parent company was changed to simply "Daimler AG".

[edit] Timeline of Daimler AG

Benz & Company, 18831926 Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft AG, 18901926 Daimler-Benz AG, 19261998 DaimlerChrysler AG, 19982007 Daimler AG, 2007present

[edit] The "Merger Of Equals"

[edit] Merger with Chrysler

Former logo of Daimler AG as Daimler Chrysler AG. In 1998 Daimler-Benz AG "merged" with the American automobile manufacturer Chrysler Corporation in an exchange of shares,[5] and formed DaimlerChrysler AG. The terms of the merger allowed Daimler-Benz's non-automotive businesses such as Daimler-Benz InterServices AG (Debis) (created in 1989 to handle data processing, financial and insurance services, and real estate management for the Daimler group) to continue to pursue their respective strategies of expansion. Debis reported revenues of $ 8.6 bn (DM 15.5 bn) in 1997.[6][7] [edit] A troubled relationship The merger was contentious with investors launching lawsuits over whether the transaction was the 'merger of equals' that senior management claimed or actually amounted to a Daimler-Benz takeover of Chrysler. A class action investor lawsuit was settled in August 2003 for US$300 million while a suit by billionaire investor activist Kirk Kerkorian was dismissed on April 7, 2005.[8] The transaction claimed the job of its architect, Chairman Jrgen E. Schrempp, who resigned at the end of 2005 in response to the fall of the company's share price following the transaction. The merger was also the subject of a book Taken for a Ride: How Daimler-Benz Drove Off With Chrysler, (2000) by Bill Vlasic and Bradley A. Stertz.[9] Another issue of contention is whether the merger delivered promised synergies and successfully integrated the two businesses. As late as 2002, DaimlerChrysler appeared to run two independent product lines. Later that year, the company launched products that appear to integrate elements from both sides of the company, including the Chrysler Crossfire, which was based on the Mercedes SLK platform and utilized Mercedes's 3.2L V6, and the Dodge Sprinter/Freightliner Sprinter, a re-badged Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van. The fourth-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee is based on the Mercedes-Benz M-Class despite the fact it had been nearly four years after the Daimler/Chrysler split.[10] [edit] Sale of Chrysler

Chrysler had suffered a series of setbacks in recent years, culminating in DaimlerChrysler's agreement to sell the unit to Cerberus Capital Management in May 2007 for US$6 billion. Through most of its history, Chrysler has been the third largest of the "Big 3" U.S. automakers, but in January 2007, DaimlerChrysler, excluding its luxury Mercedes and Maybach lines, also outsold traditionally second place Ford, though behind General Motors and Toyota. Chrysler reported losses of US$1.5 billion in 2006. It then announced plans to lay off 13,000 employees in mid-February 2007, close a major assembly plant and reduce production at other plants in order to restore profitability by 2008.[11] DaimlerChrysler had reportedly approached other carmakers and investment groups to sell Chrysler in early 2007. General Motors was reported to be a suitor while Volkswagen, the Renault-Nissan auto alliance, and Hyundai Motor Company had said that they weren't interested in buying the company. On August 3, 2007, DaimlerChrysler completed the sale of Chrysler Group to Cerberus Capital Management. The original agreement stated that Cerberus would take an 80.1 percent stake in the new company, Chrysler Holding LLC. DaimlerChrysler changed its name to Daimler AG and retained the remaining 19.9% stake in the separated Chrysler.[12] The terms saw Daimler pay Cerberus US$650 million to take Chrysler and associated liabilities off its hands. Of the US$7.4 billion purchase price, Cerberus Capital Management will invest US$5 billion in Chrysler Holdings and US$1.05 billion in Chryslers financial unit. The demerged Daimler AG received US$1.35 billion directly from Cerberus but directly invested US$2 billion in Chrysler itself. Since Chrysler's 2009 bankruptcy filing in the United States, Chrysler has been controlled by Italian automaker Fiat, which unlike Daimler plans to integrate Chrysler's products into the Fiat portfolio, most notably Lancia and Chrysler's namesake brand.

[edit] Renault-Nissan and Daimler Alliance

On April 7, 2010 Renault-Nissan executive, Carlos Ghosn and Dr. Dieter Zetsche announced a partnership between the three companies in a joint press conference.[13]

[edit] Management
Dr. Dieter Zetsche has been the Chairman of Daimler and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars since January 1, 2006 as well as member of Board of Management since 1998. He was former President and CEO of the Chrysler, LLC (previously owned by Daimler AG), he may be best known in the United States as Dr. Z from a Chrysler advertising campaign called "Ask Dr. Z". Current members of the Board of Management of Daimler AG are:

Dr. Dieter Zetsche: Chairman of the Board as well as Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars. Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard: Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars Procurement and Production.

Wilfried Porth: Head of Human Resources and Labor Relations. Andreas Renschler: Head of Daimler Trucks. Bodo Uebber: Head of Finance and Controlling as well as Financial Services. Dr. Thomas Weber: Head of Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development.

Current members of the Supervisory Board of Daimler AG are: Heinrich Flegel, Juergen Hambrecht, Thomas Klebe, Erich Klemm, Arnaud Lagardre, Jrgen Langer, Helmut Lense, Sari Baldauf, William Owens, Ansgar Osseforth, Valter Sanches, Manfred Schneider, Stefan Schwaab, Bernhard Walter, Lynton Wilson, Mark Wssner, Manfred Bischoff, Clemens Brsig and Uwe Werner. Dr Manfred Bischoff serves as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Daimler AG and Erich Klemm as Vice-Chairman.[14]

[edit] Shareholders Structure

by Ownership[15]

Aabar Investments (United Arab Emirates): 9.0% Kuwait Investment Authority (Kuwait): 6.9% Renault (France): 1.55% Nissan (Japan): 1.55% Institutional investors: 61.9% Private Investors: 19.1%

by Region[15]

28.2% Germany 36.9% Other Europe 15.4% United States 9.0% United Arab Emirates 6.9% Kuwait 3.6% Others

[edit] Brands
Daimler sells automobiles under the following marques worldwide:

Mercedes-Benz Cars o Maybach o Mercedes-Benz o Smart o Mercedes-AMG Daimler Trucks o Commercial vehicles Freightliner

Mercedes-Benz (truck group) Mitsubishi Fuso Thomas Built Buses Sterling Trucks - operations wind down in 2010, but will continue to support authorized dealers and vehicle owners Western Star BharatBenz Components Alliance Truck Parts Detroit Diesel Mercedes-Benz Mitsubishi Fuso

Daimler Buses o Mercedes-Benz buses o Orion Bus Industries o Setra Mercedes-Benz Vans o Mercedes-Benz (vans group) Daimler Financial Services o Mercedes-Benz Bank o Mercedes-Benz Financial o Daimler Truck Financial Others
o

Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines (Builds engines for Formula 1 Racing)

[edit] Holdings
Daimler currently holds interests in the following companies:

85.0% Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation of Japan 50.1% Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation of Canada 11% McLaren Group of United Kingdom (McLaren Group acquiring back stake gradually, to be completed early 2011) 22.4% European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) - the parent company of Airbus of Europe 50% Tognum of Germany 11.0% KAMAZ of Russia 10.0% Tesla Motors of United States

[edit] Partners

Daimler has built 1,000 all-electric versions of its Smart Fortwo using Tesla's battery technology.[16] Daimler works with China's Beiqi Foton (a subsidiary of BAIC) to build Auman trucks,[17] and with BYD to develop EV technology.[18]

[edit] Bribery and corruption

Main article: Oil-for-Food Programme#Daimler AG Kickbacks Case On April 1, 2010, Daimler AG's German and Russian subsidiaries each plead guilty to two counts of bribery charges brought by the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Daimler itself will pay US$185 million as a settlement, but the company and its Chinese subsidiary remain subject to a two-year deferred prosecution agreement which requires further cooperation with regulators, adherence to internal controls and meeting other terms before they are required to return to the court room. Daimler will face harsher penalties if the company fails to meet the terms of the agreement during the two-year period. Additionally, Louis J. Freeh, a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, will serve as an independent monitor to oversee Daimlers compliance with anti-bribery laws. U.S. prosecutors accused key executives of Daimler, Daimler subsidiaries, and Daimler affiliates of illegally giving foreign officials money and gifts between 1998 and 2008 to secure government contracts around the world. The investigation for the case revealed that Daimler improperly paid some $56 million in bribes related to more than 200 transactions in at least 22 countries (including China, Russia, Turkey, Hungary, Greece, Latvia, Serbia and Montenegro, Egypt and Nigeria, among other places) that, in return, awarded the company $1.9 billion in revenue and at least $91.4 million in illegal profits.[19] The SEC case was sparked in 2004 after David Bazzetta, a former auditor at then DaimlerChrysler Corp, filed a whistleblower complaint after he was fired for raising questions about bank accounts controlled by Mercedes-Benz units in South America.[20] Bazzetta alleged that he learned in a July 2001 corporate audit executive committee meeting in Stuttgart that business units "continued to maintain secret bank accounts to bribe foreign government officials," though the company knew the practice violated U.S. laws. In another attempt to silence Bazzetta, Daimler later offered to settle his termination of employment suit out of court and he eventually accepted a settlement. But Daimler's strategy with Bazzetta proved to be a failure as the U.S. criminal investigation for violating anti-bribery laws was already underway in what is one of the most wide-ranging cases brought against a foreign corporation. According to the charges, the bribes were frequently made by over-invoicing customers and paying the excess back to top government officials or their proxies. The bribes also took the form of luxury European vacations, armored Mercedes vehicles for high-ranking government officials and a birthday gift to a senior Turkmenistan official including a golden box and 10,000 copies of the official's personal manifesto translated into German.

Investigators also found that the firm violated the terms of the United Nations' Oil-for-Food Programme with Iraq by giving kickbacks worth 10% of the contract values to officials within the Iraqi government, then led by Saddam Hussein. The SEC said the company made more than $4 million from the sale of vehicles and spare parts in the corrupt Oil-for-Food deals.[19] U.S. prosecutors further alleged that some bribes were paid through shell companies based in the U.S. "In some cases Daimler wired these improper payments to U.S. bank accounts or to the foreign bank accounts of U.S. shell companies in order to transmit the bribe," the court papers said.[21] Prosecutors said that Daimler engaged in a "long-standing practice" of paying bribes, due in part to a corporate culture that encouraged the practice. "Using offshore bank accounts, third-party agents and deceptive pricing practices, these companies [Daimler AG, its subsidiaries and affiliates] saw foreign bribery as a way of doing business," said Mythili Raman, a principal deputy in the Justice Departments criminal division.[22] "It is no exaggeration to describe corruption and bribe-paying at Daimler as a standard business practice," Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC's enforcement division, said in a statement.[23] "We have learned a lot from past experience," Dieter Zetsche, chairman of Daimler's board, said in a statement. As per the agreement with prosecutors, the two Daimler subsidiaries admitted to knowingly violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars companies and their officials from paying bribes to foreign officials to win business.[24] The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act applies to any company that lists its shares on U.S. stock exchanges. Daimler AG was listed with the symbol "DAI" on the NYSE, giving the Justice Department jurisdiction over the German car maker's payments in countries around the globe. Judge Richard J. Leon of United States District Court in Washington, D.C., approved the plea agreement and settlement, calling it a "just resolution." The primary case is USA v. Daimler AG, United States District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 10-00063.[25] DaimlerChrysler is also known for assisting in translation to German language in 2003 of the first part of the Ruhnama book written by Turkmenbashi, the notorious former dictator of Turkmenistan [26][27]. Allegedly, this helped the company to gain contracts in Turkmenistan.

[edit] Alternative propulsion

[edit] Biofuel research

Daimler AG is involved in a joint project with Archer Daniels Midland Company and Bayer CropScience to develop jatropha as a biofuel.[28]

[edit] Transport electrification

Carmaker Daimler AG and the utility company RWE AG are going to begin a joint electric car and charging station test project in the German capital, Berlin, called "E-Mobility Berlin".[29][30] Mercedes-Benz is launching its first passenger car model equipped with a hybrid drive system in summer 2009, the Mercedes-Benz S 400 HYBRID.[30] Daimler Trucks is the world market leader in hybrid systems. With its Shaping Future Transportation initiative, Daimler is pursuing a clear-cut objective for trucks and buses. The Mitsubishi Fuso Aero Star Eco Hybrid is now setting new standards in practical trials in Japan.[31]

[edit] Formula 1
On November 16, 2009 Daimler purchased a 75.1% stake in Brawn GP. The company was rebranded as Mercedes GP. Ross Brawn will remain team principal and the team will be based in Brackley, UK. However the purchase of Brawn meant that Daimler will sell its 40% stake in McLaren back in phases which will end in 2011. Mercedes will continue to provide sponsorship and engines to McLaren until 2015, when McLaren will probably have to find an engine supplier or make its own engines. Mercedes owns 45.1% of the new company with 30% for Aabar Investments and 24.9% for Ross Brawn. The racing team has signed the former champion Michael Schumacher.

Our Future, Driven By You. Chrysler Group LLC is a major automotive company known in the industry for speed, style and innovation. It is an exciting time in our history! Our strategy is to design, build and deliver high-quality products and segment-defining vehicles that will continue to set us apart from the competition. Chrysler Group LLC, formed in 2009 from a global strategic alliance with Fiat Group, produces Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram,and Mopar brand vehicles and products. With the resources, technology and worldwide distribution network required to compete on a global scale, the alliance builds on Chryslers culture of innovation which was first established by Walter P. Chrysler in 1925 and is now complimented by technology from Fiat, a company whose heritage dates back to 1899. Headquartered in Auburn Hills, Mich., Chrysler Group LLCs product lineup features some of the world's most recognizable vehicles, including theJeep Grand Cherokee, Chrysler 300, Jeep

Wrangler, Dodge and Ram. Fiat will contribute world-class technology, platforms and powertrains for small- and medium-sized cars, allowing Chrysler Group to offer an expanded product line including environmentally friendly vehicles. All this, coupled with our number one asset our workforce, is what has built Chrysler Groups strong heritage and is the catalyst to the success of the new Chrysler Group. We are excited to write this chapter in the companys proud history and are looking for exceptional people who want to be a part of it.