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The Mercedes-Benz brand, however, is about more than just cars and technology. As a world leader in the automotive industry, Mercedes-Benz goes above and beyond to take care not just of car owners, but the very communities and societies of which it is a part. In China alone it has already sponsored and supported numerous educational, artistic, athletic and cultural activities to help enrich the lives of Chinese citizens, and now, for the first time ever, it has set up an exhibit at the Beijing Auto Show specifically for its CSR activities in China, helping to delineate how Mercedes-Benz strives to be an outstanding corporate citizen, strongly commits itself to long-term development in China and the strategies used to develop a mutually beneficial relationship with the Chinese marketplace.
One of the latest of these projects on display is Green Legacy Program – jointly initiated by Mercedes-Benz and UNESCO last September. In this project, Mercedes-Benz has carried out donation activities for the giant panda sanctuary in Ya'an, Sichuan province and Karst areas of South China, with accumulated contributions of RMB6.5 million. Furthermore, Mercedes-Benz is engaged in strategic cooperation with the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) to promote the development and prosperity of cultural and artistic programs in China.
To carry out activities for fulfilling corporate social responsibility, Daimler plans to invest around RMB50 million this year in China, among which, around RMB40 million will be funded by Mercedes-Benz. Mr. Klaus Maier, CEO of Mercedes-Benz (China) Ltd., said, "Pursuing the cause of public welfare is not only the responsibility of an enterprise, but also a precondition that determines an enterprise's survival. Promoting and becoming a part of China's social harmony and rapid economic development is our obligatory responsibility and proactively shouldering social obligations is an important part of our long-term commitment to the Chinese market."
Mercedes-Benz never stops working to further enhance sales service in the Chinese market. As of now Mercedes-Benz has established 100 authorized sales and service centers in China, ensuring more customers can enjoy Mercedes-Benz quality service. In fact, Mercedes-Benz has set the highest benchmark for the industry in the J. D. Power Asia Pacific 2007 China Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) Study. Included for the first time in the rankings, Mercedes-Benz scored 829 in SSI, 21 points ahead of industry average.
In Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, Mercedes-Benz Cars sales have reached more than 9,600 passenger vehicles in the first three months of 2008, a record-breaking year-on-year increase of 40% (more than 8,600 passenger cars sold in mainland China, a 42% year-on-year increase), maintaining its position as sales leader in the top-end luxury car segment.
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