Mercedes 2015 Annual Report Download - page 64

A | TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS | OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGY 71
Digitization along the entire value chain allows us to shorten
development times, design production processes more flexibly
and utilize marketing and sales channels in a more direct
manner. For example, the development time for the Concept
IAA (Intelligent Aerodynamic Automobile) presented at the
Frankfurt Motor Show in 2015 was shortened from one and
a half years to less than ten months. Industry 4.0 will digitize
factories through the use of systems for augmented reality,
virtual assembly or human-robot cooperation. The amount
of monotonous and strenuous work will be reduced as a result.
The intelligent use of continually increasing volumes of data,
along with the networking of all points in the value chain, will
enhance efficiency, improve quality, increase speed and make
the entire production process even more flexible. It is also no
longer possible to imagine marketing and customer-oriented
communication without digitization. Our social media channels
are already widespread and successful, for example. Concepts
such as the lifestyle configurator, temporary pop-up stores
and extra online sales channels help us directly address our
customers in an innovative manner – and gain new customers
as well.
The further digitization of core processes and the compre-
hensive expansion of digital services are also important goals
for the next few years at Daimler Financial Services.
New ways of thinking and acting are required if the digital
transformation at our company is to be successful. We want
to get our employees enthusiastic about digital technologies
and strengthen our culture of innovation. We are addressing
digitization issues with the help of new innovation formats.
We are changing our structures and processes in order to ensure
we can optimally exploit the opportunities offered by digitiza-
tion. Our goal is to successfully combine the speed and
risk-taking culture of the digital sector with our company’s
perfection and innovative capability. For us, digitization
is just as important as a strong core business and leadership
in technology.
Extensive investment in the future
of the company
In the coming years, we will continue to move ahead system-
atically with our investment offensive in order to implement
our growth strategy through the introduction of new products,
innovative technologies and state-of-the-art manufacturing
capacities. A large amount of our investment will be used for the
digitization of processes and products throughout the entire
company. We will therefore invest approximately €14 billion in
property, plant and equipment in 2016 and 2017, as well as
€14.5 billion in research and development projects. With
this plan, we are once again substantially increasing our
investment in order to safeguard the future of our company.

A .10 t o A .13
The investment in property, plant and equipment will mainly
be used to prepare for the production of our new models,
to modernize and realign our manufacturing facilities in Germany,
to expand local production in growth markets and to enhance
and restructure our sales organization. E page 95
Most of our outlay for research and development is used for new
products, innovative drive and safety technologies, vehicle
connectivity systems and the further development of autonomous
driving technologies. Between 2012 and 2020, we will launch
more than 30 new car models and will also systematically further
develop our range of commercial vehicles. In addition, we
intend to continue significantly reducing our vehicles’ fuel
consumption, and thus CO2 emissions, for example with the
use of innovative hybrid drive systems. We will also continue
to set standards in the areas of safety and autonomous driving
for cars and commercial vehicles. E pages 6 ff and 107 ff
Investment in property, plant and equipment
2014 actual 2015 actual 2016 – 2017
Amounts in billions of euros
Daimler Group 4.8 5.1 14.0
Mercedes-Benz Cars 3.6 3.6 9.9
Daimler Trucks 0.8 1.1 2.7
Mercedes-Benz Vans 0.3 0.2 1.1
Daimler Buses 0.1 0.1 0.2
Daimler Financial Services 0.02 0.03 0.05
A .11
Research and development expenditure
2014 actual 2015 actual 2016 – 2017
Amounts in billions of euros
Daimler Group 5.7 6.6 14.5
Mercedes-Benz Cars 4.0 4.7 10.7
Daimler Trucks 1.2 1.3 2.6
Mercedes-Benz Vans 0.3 0.4 0.8
Daimler Buses 0.2 0.2 0.4
A .13
Research and development expenditure 2016 – 2017
In %
A.12
Mercedes-Benz Cars 74 %
Daimler Trucks 18 %
Mercedes-Benz Vans 5 %
Daimler Buses 3 %
Investment in pr
operty, plant and equipment 2016 – 2017
In
%
A.10
Mercedes
-Benz Cars 71%
Daimle
r Trucks 20%
Mercedes
-Benz Vans 8%
Daimle
r Financial Services 0.4%
Daimle
r Buses 1%