Daimler drives home sustainability in vision for future mobility

Sustainability is crucial to future mobility, which is why it is a key strategic focus for Daimler AG, who aspires to be carbon neutral by 2039 for the new car fleet. To promote long-term sustainable development with Chinese partners and stakeholders, the carmaker held the ninth Daimler Sustainability Dialogue themed around shaping a sustainable future on Nov 23 in Beijing.

"Sustainability is the cornerstone of future mobility, and one of the main issues in this respect lies in traffic safety. That's why we selected it as the key topic for Daimler Sustainability Dialogue in 2021," said Hubertus Troska, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, responsible for Greater China. "Daimler always views sustainability as one of its key strategies and is making effort to the realization of sustainable, carbon-neutral mobility under the mission of creating a green future together."

The annual event, held by the German carmaker since 2010, is an important platform for in-depth exchanges about sustainability among thought leaders from different backgrounds, including academic and industry experts and company executives.

Participants were invited to share their views on topics such as the reliability and acceptance of new technologies and the possible result in societal change. They also explored the boundaries between cutting-edge technology, road safety and civilization, and offered their vision of future transport, intelligent driving and industry learning.

"By further ensuring safety for every participant in transport, we are dedicated in contributing to safe mobility in China and the sustainable development of Chinese society," Troska said.

Mercedes-Benz is dedicated to improving travel safety in four stages: assisted driving, preparation for an accident, protection in an accident, and post-accident assistance. The carmaker has teamed up with Tsinghua University and local autonomous driving startup Momenta to study road traffic conditions in China and explore safer and sustainable mobility technologies for the future.

Daimler is speeding up its electrification campaign. "Every great success is the result of many small steps, thus Mercedes-Benz is moving systematically toward a carbon-neutral future under the new 'electric only' strategy," Troska said.

Daimler was one of the first automakers to announce a vision and a pathway toward sustainability, aiming to become carbon neutral by 2039 for the new car fleet together with its suppliers. Having committed to this ambition, it expects to be ready to go all-electric by 2030 where market conditions allow, and the company is accelerating toward an emissions-free and software-driven future.

"There is no long-term success without sustainability. It is on top of the global agenda, across all sectors," said Renata Jungo Brüngger, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and of Mercedes-Benz AG, responsible for integrity and legal affairs.

"It is either sustainable business－or out of business. Therefore, we need constructive discussions and the exchange of different perspectives. Only together can we achieve real improvements, thus driving the sustainable transformation," she said.

Brüngger said Daimler is focusing sustainability efforts in several areas such as climate protection and air quality, resource conservation, livable cities, as well as traffic safety.

In terms of traffic safety, Mercedes-Benz has been working with partners from various sectors to foster harmonious, sustainable development among people, automobiles and the traffic environment.

Back in 2012, the Mercedes-Benz Road Safety Program was introduced into China, which was among the earliest and the most influential road safety education projects in the world. And the Road Safety Program for children was introduced into the country as they are a particularly special group of road users.

Since then, the program has been introduced into 210 schools across China and benefited more than 260,000 students by helping them gain a better understanding of road safety and develop good habits as road users. So far this year, the Road Safety Program has organized series of Children's Opinions Matter projects that encourage students to share their observations, thoughts, vision and recommendations on traffic behavior, communication and infrastructure. A proposal named Sidewalk for Students has been launched.

Daimler's joint venture Beijing Benz Automotive Co is dedicated to increasing energy efficiency, environmental protection and creating green logistics and a green supply chain in China.

Its manufacturing facility in Yizhuang, Beijing, was certified in 2017 as a green plant by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. It is one of the first demonstration enterprises of green manufacturing systems in China.

In September this year, it became one of the first Beijing-based companies to buy green electricity, which is produced from renewable sources such as wind, solar and hydro.

Mercedes-Benz is speeding up its introduction of electric cars into China, its largest market. Following the EQC, the EQA and EQB were recently launched at the 2021 Guangzhou auto show, and are being produced in Beijing. It means that by the end of this year, there will be up to four all-electric models in the Chinese market－the EQA, the EQB and the EQC SUV and the EQS sedan.

The carmaker is renovating its dealerships to cut their emissions through measures such as installing air-source heat pumps, roof greening, water recycling, and rooftop solar power generation.

During the Daimler Sustainability Dialogue, the Daimler Sustainability Report 2020 was released online to share the specific measures the company is taking for self-improvement on the road toward carbon neutrality. According to the report, Mercedes' plug-in hybrids as well as all-electric car and van sales in 2020 were over three times that of the previous year worldwide.

Daimler is investing more than 70 billion euros ($78.5 billion) over the next five years, mainly in electrification and digitalization.

Meanwhile, its Factory 56 in Sindelfingen, Germany is using carbon-neutral, resource-saving and connected production processes, allowing it to save a significant amount of energy every year.

"At Daimler, sustainability is a guiding principle across all its strategic fields globally and is also critical for Mercedes-Benz's ongoing business success in China," said the carmaker in a statement.