BERLIN, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) — The German car manufacturer Daimler on Thursday presented a new sustainable business strategy with a "clear commitment" to CO2-neutral mobility as well as cost-cutting measures.
According to Daimler, global regulatory CO2 targets would require ongoing high investment. The growing range of plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles was leading to cost increases that would have a negative impact on the return on sales of Mercedes-Benz cars.
In Daimler's core business alone, Mercedes-Benz Cars, the car manufacturer planned to save more than 1 billion euros (1.1 billion U.S. dollars) in personnel costs by the end of 2022. To this end, Daimler was seeking to cut jobs both in management and in non-production areas such as logistics and accounting.
According to Daimler, it would be in close contact with its employee representatives "in order to make the measures as acceptable as possible."
With the business strategy, Daimler was also seeking to improve its free cash flow to a "stable net liquidity" of more than 10 billion euros. To this end, Daimler announced to prioritize investments and expenditures in all areas in order to achieve a more stringent capital allocation.
"We are positioning the company for the transformation with a clear strategy for the future," said Ola Kaellenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG.
"The expenditure needed to achieve the CO2 targets requires comprehensive measures to increase efficiency in all areas of our company. This also includes streamlining our processes and structures," he said.
These measures would weigh on the financial results for 2020 and 2021, Kaellenius said, adding that "to remain successful in the future, we must therefore act now and significantly increase our financial strength."