As a globally active automotive company, DaimlerChrysler bears a far reaching responsibility. Several hundred thousand people worldwide are involved in the production, sales and services relating to our products. The vehicles are to be found in almost every country on earth. They meet people’s need for mobility and provide a flexible means of transporting goods. They are therefore the basis of individual choice and independence, an important factor in a modern society and national economy. At the same time the manufacture and use of  the vehicles consumes natural resources, and  business activities affect society in many different ways.


DaimlerChrysler is convinced that corporate success and social responsibility go hand in hand, and that value creation also always requires value orientation in the social environment. They  can only achieve business success if they have the confidence of the people in the countries where  DaimlerChrysler is active. For this reason social and environmental responsibility are an integral part of the corporate strategy, and they employ all the expertise to implement them.


DaimlerChrysler has many activities aimed at further, continuous improvements to the environmental compatibility of the products, with the environmental effects of these products over their entire lifecycle - from development and production to servicing, operation and recycling - firmly in mind.


It is also well established in our environmental guidelines that we develop products which are especially environmentally compatible in their respective market segments, and that we comprehensively inform the public about our environmental protection activities. The Environmental Certificate - obtained for the S-Class for the first time in 2005 - was another example of how these guidelines are implemented. With the Environmental Certificate now obtained for the C-Class, Mercedes-Benz remains the only manufacturer worldwide to possess this demanding certification and to comprehensively inform its customers and shareholders, the public and interested parties both within and outside the company.


Certification is based on international standards which are accepted by all relevant stakeholders. Compliance with these standards and the correctness of the information provided have been verified by independent experts.