The economic significance of the automotive industry
The automotive industry is an engine of growth, revenue, employment, and prosperity all over the world. Passenger cars are the basis of individual mobility, while trucks secure the global supply of goods. Automobiles enable people to live and work in remote areas by providing a type of mobility and flexibility that would have been unthinkable a century ago. Consequently, the automotive sector — and therefore our company as well — impacts global economic activity in a variety of ways.
The automotive industry in Germany. The German automotive industry was once again one of the leading employers in Germany in 2008. In fact, it employed an annual average workforce of 756,500 men and women, or 12,000 more than in the previous year. The automotive industry employs more than 14 percent of the total number of industrial workers, and that figure has increased by over 3 percent in the past ten years.
In 2008 the foreign trade surplus of the automotive industry in Germany once again exceeded the €100 billion mark and was twice as high as it was ten years ago. This sector exported goods valued at €180 billion and imported goods worth €78 billion.
The automotive industry in Germany is a major source of investment in the overall economy. The sector’s gross investment in plant and equipment increased last year by 8 percent to €11.5 billion, which amounts to approximately a fifth of the total industrial investment in Germany. Over the past ten years, more than €100 billion in total were invested in Germany. The German automotive sector invests more than €18.9 billion in research and development (R&D) each year, which corresponds to around one third of the total R&D investment of German companies — a contribution that’s far above average. The Daimler Group, for its part, invested €4.4 billion in R&D activities worldwide in 2008 (2007: €4.1 billion).
Above and beyond our core business — the production and sale of automobiles — Daimler also benefits the economy and society in other ways. One example is offered by the Group’s provision of financial support to community projects and promotion of infrastructure services, for example, by building its own sports and athletic centers.
The automotive industry in Baden-Württemberg. Daimler’s home state of Baden-Württemberg is the most important automotive region in Germany. The state offers automakers ideal conditions through a unique concentration of automotive supplier firms, research institutes, technology transfer centers, and specialized programs of study at its universities. Government statistics for automobile production in Baden-Württemberg in 2007 show that the state is home to more than 357 companies involved in some way in automobile production. In 2007, these firms employed some 234,000 men and women, and generated revenues of approximately €85 billion. The large majority of these companies are the automobile manufacturers and their supplier firms, all of which will continue to play a major role in the state’s economic development for years to come.
