Mercedes-Benz – Corporate Citizenship
Responsibility beyond the factory gates
December 12th, 2024
As Mercedes-Benz, we are aware of our social responsibility. We want to make a tangible, positive contribution that goes beyond our actual business activities—all over the world. We therefore support numerous initiatives around the world that aim to make a contribution to environmental protection or improve people's lives in a tangible and sustainable way.
DRIVING SOCIAL IMPACT.
Thanks to the pioneering spirit of our founders, the boundaries of what is technologically feasible have been pushed further and further to improve people's standard of living. It was and still is our goal to be part of the solution to global challenges, both through our core business and beyond. As a company, we want to make a positive contribution and drive sustainable change. Our corporate citizenship strategy is derived from the sustainable business strategy of Mercedes-Benz and is based on the company's principles. Acting sustainably and with integrity is part of our foundation. With our corporate citizenship commitment, we also promote these values outside the factory gates.
We want to make a measurable, positive contribution with two overarching goals through donations in kind and money, sponsorship, and partnerships in the area of corporate citizenship, as well as campaigns for employees:
We want to contribute to ecological sustainability and strengthen communities.
In order to achieve a greater, positive impact through coordinated action at global and national level, two fields of action were defined for each of the two goals.
Ecological Sustainability
In terms of ecological sustainability, our corporate citizenship strategy focuses on the areas of decarbonization, the circular economy, and the conservation of natural resources.
Specifically, we support initiatives that help to reduce and eliminate CO₂ emissions, promote sustainable circular economies, and preserve and natural ecosystems through more responsible use.
Community Empowerment
In strengthening the community, the focus of our corporate citizenship strategy is on creating improved living conditions and access to high-quality education.
The goal is to strengthen communities and promote their independence, resilience, and innovative strength and to enable people to take their development and well-being into their own hands.
In addition, we want to promote access to high-quality education and thus enable social mobility and inclusion, support talent in the education system, and promote the development of culture, diversity, and skills. As a car manufacturer, road safety is particularly important to us. That is why we promote road safety work for children in order to create safe public spaces.
In addition to these two focus areas, we continue to help in disaster situations and make our contribution in acute emergencies and exceptional situations.
For us, our corporate citizenship commitment is a question of attitude: Our responsibility doesn't end at the factory gate.
Our commitment.
As a global company and corporate citizen, we want to make a positive contribution to society that goes beyond our worldwide core business activities. In doing so, we focus on two areas: We support projects that promote ecological sustainability and support initiatives that strengthen community empowerment. In addition, we make relevant contributions to disaster relief. For us, our corporate citizenship commitment is a question of attitude: Our responsibility doesn't end at the factory gate.
BeVisioneers
Mercedes-Benz is funding a global fellowship program beVisioneers: The Mercedes-Benz Fellowship with donations. Thousands of young people from all over the world receive support for developing and implementing sustainability projects from this program in the form of knowledge, coaching and scholarships.
To raise the seed capital for this program, Mercedes-Benz auctioned off the most valuable car in history in May 2022, an SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe from 1955, which went for the record sum of 135 million euros.
The non-profit organization The DO School Fellowships developed the concept for beVisioneers and is also responsible for the implementation. beVisioneers is aimed at creative, committed people between 16 and 28 years of age, who have promising ideas for projects in the areas of environmental protection and decarbonization. The participants are selected by The DO School and come from different countries and walks of life.
In the pilot year 2023, the program was initially accessible to young people from India, South Africa and a number of European countries. More than a thousand applications were submitted between January and March, from which The DO School Fellowships selected the first 102 participants. The program provided the fellows with access to project financing and – if required – further financial or material support. However, at the heart of the program is a broad-based learning and coaching curriculum, which focuses on leadership, entrepreneurship and sustainability. The fellows are also provided with a personal mentor during the twelve-month hybrid learning phase. Mercedes-Benz has encouraged all interested employees to become involved as mentors in beVisioneers or similar initiatives.
beVisioneers is to grow and in 2025 already support one thousand fellows from all over the world who have sustainable project ideas. Mercedes-Benz sponsors beVisioneers because the program promotes ecological sustainability and social cohesion through education – and in this way reflects key elements of the corporate citizenship strategy. In addition, Mercedes-Benz is the title sponsor in order to underscore its lasting commitment to the success of this program.
Regional Engagement
As a global company, we promote initiatives based on our corporate citizenship strategy that benefit the environment and society. This commitment is particularly important to us where our employees live and work. As Mercedes-Benz, we want to make a positive contribution beyond our plant gates, particularly at our locations. Our support focuses on projects that promote social cohesion through better living conditions.
Examples: Local initiatives and commitments
For example, Mercedes-Benz USA, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, has teamed up with two non-profit organizations Safe Kids Worldwide® and Junior Achievement USA® to support various educational initiatives in the area of technology and sustainability. As part of the Junior Achievement 3DE program, Mercedes-Benz USA offers students special mentoring to prepare them for their career outside the classroom. In the Atlanta region, Mercedes-Benz promotes various non-profit organizations, e.g. the Atlanta Public Schools and the Communities In Schools of Atlanta®.
In India, Mercedes-Benz is promoting initiatives and projects to expand education and the infrastructure in order to enable people on site to live healthy lives, for example with clean and safe drinking water systems. It is particularly important to us that people are actively involved in the projects, thereby strengthening local engagement in the community. Facilitating access to education plays an important role in promoting social cohesion and equal opportunities.
In South Africa, Mercedes-Benz supports local initiatives and projects focusing on education and youth promotion, community promotion and voluntary commitment by employees. The educational focus ranges from pre-primary education to tertiary and adult basic education to competence development in the technical fields of engineering and engineering. In South Africa we are also patron of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and main sponsor of the "Youth Education through Sport" program (YES).
Our commitment to the Stuttgart region
The Stuttgart region has always been of particular importance as the company's main location. Numerous large and small projects make up the overall commitment to the location in the greater Stuttgart area. Building on this long-standing commitment, we will strengthen our social commitment in the region in the coming years until 2028 beyond existing projects and also support initiatives in the areas of social, environmental and cultural issues with 24 million euros.
