«I Don't See Us As The Second Winner»
«I Don't See Us As The Second Winner»

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Video: «I Don't See Us As The Second Winner»
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Mercedes sees itself well on the way to becoming the most successful premium manufacturer by 2020. In an interview with Autogazette, Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche talks about the three-way battle with BMW and Audi, electromobility, China and the coolness factor of Tesla.

The Daimler Group is considering entering the car sharing business in China in 2015. «I could imagine that we will start there as early as next year, depending of course on the progress of the talks. I am confident that we will be successful,”said Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche in an interview with Autogazette.

As Zetsche said, the topic of car sharing in China will have an important perspective. “We were just sitting with the Chinese research minister, for whom the subject plays an important role. But of course there are differences: taxi driving is extremely cheap in China, but our car2go offer would cost exactly the same in China as elsewhere in the world. At the same time, the municipalities were not yet fully aware that the provision of parking spaces played an essential role. But there is currently a positive awareness and we are in talks to get pilot projects off the ground."

Mercedes is setting new goals for China

China plays the decisive role in the “Mercedes-Benz 2020” strategy, with which Zetsche intends to develop its core brand into the most successful premium manufacturer by this year. At the moment, the Stuttgart-based company is still well behind BMW and Audi in terms of numbers, but by 2015 the carmaker plans to sell more than 300,000 units there.

However, Zetsche did not want to say whether this target would be exceeded due to the current growth - until May it was a total of 112,500 units at 42 percent. “The year 2015 will show that. We are in the process of repositioning our brand and recapturing the premium in price after we were previously in an unhealthy discount situation. Here we are making very positive progress relative to the competition."

Electric cars not yet competitive

There are special license plates for e-cars
There are special license plates for e-cars

Autogazette: Mr. Zetsche, are you actually happy about every electric car that has not been sold?

Dieter Zetsche: Sergio Marcchione, to whom you allude with your question, has made his statement very pointed. But new technologies can be brought onto the market even if they do not initially benefit from economic advantages. Only when you really make electric cars numbers, also raises the economic success of a …

Auto Gazette: … which is likely to take a long time with regard to electric cars…

Zetsche: … Of course, electric cars are not yet competitive with conventional vehicles with internal combustion engines, be it in terms of range, price or charging time. We all know that we have to move on to alternative drives, so we have to make upfront financial investments that will pay off in the future.

Autogazette: Fiat Chrysler boss Marcchione said that he would make a loss of 10,300 euros for every Fiat 500e sold in the USA. How much loss do you make with every electric smart sold?

Zetsche:For reasons of competition, we say nothing about the profitability of individual series. But today we are with the Smart, and especially with the new Smart, we will be in a good economic situation. But in fact: the electric smart poses a particular challenge.

No manufacturer with electric cars covering costs

The Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive is presented in Paris
The Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive is presented in Paris

Autogazette: So you are not on the road with the electric smart that covers your costs ?

Zetsche: There is currently no manufacturer who, when considering the full costs, covers costs with electric cars.

Autogazette: The government continues to reject purchase premiums for e-cars. Federal Transport Minister Dobrindt is planning privileges such as the use of bus lanes or free parking. Is that enough to achieve the goal of one million e-cars by 2020?

Zetsche:I don't think so, even if plug-in hybrids with an electric range of 30 kilometers are included in the number. In any case, the industry has done everything to keep its promise to invest heavily in this technology. Within four years, around 12 billion euros will flow from the suppliers and the OEMs.

Autogazette: Will it be possible to achieve this goal without a purchase premium?

Zetsche:I'm not a subsidy knight, but if you stick to this target of one million, you have to further increase the attractiveness for the customer. Incentives such as using bus lanes and free parking are a good first step, but they are not enough. If you look at the countries in which there is a higher proportion of electric cars, there are also additional incentives such as in Norway, the Netherlands or the USA.

This is no moon landing technology

With the Model S, Tesla brings the second series onto the market
With the Model S, Tesla brings the second series onto the market

Autogazette: So the federal government is approaching its goal too half-heartedly?

Zetsche: Even if there are only 500,000 electric cars in the end, the world will not end.

Autogazette: Tesla CEO Elon Musk has just announced that it will disclose its patents and make them available to the competition. Can such a step help to give e-mobility a boost? Or is that just a nice PR gag?

Zetsche:It's sure to bring good PR for Tesla. I don't see what else we could learn from the technology used there. We ourselves have the Tesla drive unit in our B-Class. What Elon Musk has done is to assemble batteries from consumer electronics into large packages and to control them intelligently. This is not a lunar landing technology. But without question: with the Tesla S he has a well-made car with a coolness factor that brings him success. Great achievement, hats off.

Autogazette: If Tesla's technology isn't special, why are you using it in the B-Class? Isn't Mercedes' innovative strength enough to use its own system?

Zetsche:I am extremely satisfied with our way of electromobility. We have a depth of development like no other manufacturer and we also produce our own cells and batteries. None of our competitors do that. We understand the technology and with our stake in Tesla we see what a start-up does. Together with our Chinese partner BYD, we are now launching the Denza, the best electric car produced in China. There is no one who has such know-how as we do.

Autogazette: What can you learn from a start-up like Tesla and do better for the future?

Zetsche:We see analogies with smaller units, such as AMG, with which we can react quickly. Small quantities can be implemented there much faster than if we had to roll them out in 150 versions worldwide. That can create a different spirit.

Coolness factor bought very dearly

Autogazette: In a study by the major Swiss bank UBS, the visions of BMW and the start of the i-model series are currently being praised. However, they are accused of lacking a clear strategy. Does Daimler lack visions?

Zetsche:UBS has one view, Goldman Sachs, for example, the opposite. A manufacturer like BMW spends billions on a new electric car. We said that with the B-Class and the Smart we are building cars that can be driven with both conventional and electric drives. In fact, it looks like the B-Class has a greater range than its competitor and also has more space. All in all, there is no discernible characteristic in which the B-Class is inferior to the competitor, on the contrary. But I recognize the effect of being able to present yourself particularly well with an independent design. Whether it was the right decision to invest so much money in business is a matter of debate.

Autogazette:With regard to Tesla, you speak of a coolness factor: Does this coolness factor also exist in the BMW i3?

Zetsche: Without a doubt, but that is a very dearly bought coolness factor. I think we're very cool with the entire compact class family. Five years ago BMW and Audi were certainly more popular with some than Mercedes. But today a lot of customers see things differently.

Are number one in autonomous driving

Driving autonomously in a Mercedes S-Class
Driving autonomously in a Mercedes S-Class

Autogazette: Google has just presented its self- driving car. Are you worried that Mercedes will only be second winner when it comes to autonomous driving?

Zetsche: I don't see us as second winners here or in any other area. When it comes to autonomous driving, we are the clear number one among all automotive competitors. Google chooses a very elaborate approach with a view to sensor technology, not very close to series production, but has made great progress in optimizing its algorithms with many prototypes. We're doing a complementary move here: We have strengths that Google doesn't have and Google has strengths that we lack.

Autogazette:When will you be able to offer the first self-driving car? Your Chief Development Officer Thomas Weber said that further semi-autonomous driving functions will be offered before 2020.

Zetsche: The Mercedes S-Class is already partially autonomous, the next steps need to be optimized, especially with regard to reliability. Because among the millions of cars that we sell, each individual case must also be covered with a view to product liability. That is why the road to autonomous driving will take place in steps. We will be able to offer our customers topics such as automatic parking and driving on motorways this decade. I am convinced that we will have the essential volumes in mass production within the next ten years.

Autogazette:Does the modification of the Vienna Agreement for road traffic make it easier for you to move towards autonomous driving?

Zetsche: It is a gratifying step that was taken surprisingly quickly and now has to be specifically implemented in state law.

We are fully on schedule

Denza electric car
Denza electric car

Autogazette: You have proclaimed the “Mercedes-Benz 2020” strategy for your company, with which you want to become the world's most successful premium manufacturer. With a view to the performance of BMW and Audi, do you really believe that this goal can be achieved?

Zetsche: Of course. We are right on schedule. There are a multitude of markets in which we are already number one. Outside of China, we sell as many or more cars than the competition. But of course China also counts.

Autogazette: Will China decide which premium manufacturer will be at the top by 2020?

Zetsche: Yes, you could say that.

Autogazette:Your goal in China by 2015 is 300,000 units. Will you exceed this target, because as of May you will reach 112,500 units, a growth of 42 percent?

Z etsche: The year 2015 will show. We are in the process of repositioning our brand and recapturing the premium in price after we were previously in an unhealthy discount situation. Here we are making very gratifying progress relative to the competition.

Autogazette: What role can car sharing play in China in the future ?

Zetsche:A big. We were just sitting with the Chinese Minister of Research, for whom the subject is an important issue. But of course there are differences: taxi driving is extremely cheap in China, but our car2go offer would cost exactly the same in China as elsewhere in the world. At the same time, the municipalities were not yet fully aware that the provision of parking spaces played an essential role. But there is currently a positive awareness and we are in talks to get pilot projects off the ground.

Autogazette: When will car2go be available in China?

Zetsche: I could imagine that we will start there in the coming year, of course depending on the progress of the talks. I am confident that we will succeed.

Frank Mertens conducted the interview with Dieter Zetsche

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