Record year for Daimler AG

German automotive heavyweight Daimler AG had a bumper 2013, with record sales, revenue, and net profit

The global economic recovery in the wake of the GFC may be slow but no-one’s mentioned that to Daimler AG – the German auto giant experienced a record year in 2013, with soaring sales and profit.

At the recent Daimler Annual Press Conference, held in Stuttgart, Germany, company executives outlined how the Daimler group of companies attained net profit of Euro 8.7 billion last year (up from Euro 6.8 billion in 2012), due largely from unit sales of 2.35 million vehicles (up from 2.2 million in 2012).

The Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, Dieter Zetsche (pictured, centre), said there was plenty of scope for the group to build on its success through 2014.

“The year 2013 was one that didn’t begin particularly well but one which we ended very successfully – our efforts paid off,” he said.

“Daimler is in very good condition. Our prospects for the future also make us confident that we will achieve our ambitious goals in all our divisions.”

The group’s earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose by 23 per cent in 2013, to Euro 10.8 billion ($A16.3 billion) – the highest figure ever seen by the company.

Growth in sales was experienced across all of Daimler AG’s divisions. Sales of Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses grew by five per cent each, while sales of Mercedes-Benz Vans grew by seven per cent and sales of Mercedes-Benz cars grew by eight per cent.

A total of 484,200 trucks were sold in 2013, up from 462,000 in 2012, while sales of Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, Vito, Viano, Vario and Citan vans totalled 270,100 units and sales of Daimler buses totalled 33,700 units.

Daimler says it anticipates a significant increase in total unit sales this year across all divisions.

At the close of 2013 a total of 274,616 people were employed by the Daimler group, slightly down from the figure of 275,087 recorded at the end of 2012.

Record year for Daimler AG

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