Results of the Daimler Annual Meeting 2010
Answers of Daimler’s board to questions from shareholders from the STOP THE BOMB coalition:
The turnover of the Iran business in 2007, 2008 and 2009 was approximately 0,1 percent of the annual turnover of Daimler. For 2009 this would be round about 79 Million Euro, for 2008 about 96 Million Euro and for 2007 about 100 Million Euro.
Iran Khodro builds the truck models Mercedes Benz Atego, Axor and Actros as well as busses under licence.
In 2009 approximately 1000 assembly sets for trucks have been sent to Iran.
The board didn’t want to give further information about the product that will resp. won’t be exported or licensed to Iran in the future: As long as the situation (in Iran) don’t change, one wouldn’t have to make further decisions.
On the question whether Daimler would make special efforts to prevent the re-export to Iran via Dubai, the board answered that in 2009 8653 Daimler trucks as well as 274 city busses have been exported to Dubai. The vehicles have been „to our knowledge not re-exported“, but this would be „not fully in Daimlers responsibility“.
The Daimler board didn’t know anything about business ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Daimler didn’t see the necessity for a meeting with human rights organizations to discuss the effects of their Iran business, because “Daimler is a business corporation, not a political organization.“
Press:
Jerusalem Post - Daimler drops plans to sell Teheran missile-launch trucks (16.4.2010)
"Jonathan Weckerle, a spokesman for the German chapter of the Stop the Bomb organization, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that Daimler’s decision to 'end the aggressive lobby politics for the export of dual-use goods like trucks, which can be used as missile-launching platforms, and the separation from the Iranian Diesel Engine Manufacturing Company, are the first positive steps.' Weckerle added, however, that 'in 2009, Daimler delivered 8,653 trucks to Dubai without special export controls. Daimler will continue to work with the Iranian state company Khodro and industrial Mercedes trucks are continued to be offered on an Iranian trade partner Web site (Iran Khodro Diesel). Without continued reductions and export controls, the Daimler move remains a public relation’s measure.'"
Official Daimler statement regarding the reduction of Iran business (translation will be provided soon)
Der Vorstandsvorsitzende der Daimler AG Dr. Dieter Zetsche äußerte sich bei der Hauptversammlung am 14.4.2010 wie folgt zum Iran:
„Und lassen Sie mich an dieser Stelle noch ein anderes Thema ansprechen, das unser Selbstverständnis als international gesamtverantwortliches Unternehmen betrifft: Es geht um unser Iran-Geschäft. Selbstverständlich vollziehen sich unsere Geschäftsbeziehungen mit dem Iran seit jeher im Rahmen und auf der Basis des geltenden Rechts. Angesichts der aktuellen politischen Entwicklung haben wir diese Geschäftsbeziehungen nun aber nochmals einer intensiven Prüfung unterzogen. Im Ergebnis richten wir unser Iran-Geschäft neu aus. Konkret heißt das: Wir werden uns von unserer 30-prozentigen Beteiligung an der „Iranian Diesel Engine Manufacturing“ - einer Tochtergesellschaft von Iranian Khodro Diesel - trennen.
Außerdem haben wir noch in Deutschland anhängige Anträge zum Export dreiachsiger ziviler Nutzfahrzeuge in den Iran zurückgezogen. Bis auf weiteres werden wir ganz auf die Lieferung solcher Fahrzeuge in den Iran verzichten. Insgesamt wird sich unsere Geschäftstätigkeit auf die Erfüllung bestehender vertraglicher Verpflichtungen und die Zusammenarbeit mit unseren Bestandskunden beschränken. Ich möchte besonders hervorheben, dass sich selbstverständlich keine dieser Maßnahmen gegen das iranische Volk richtet. Die Politik der derzeitigen iranischen Führung gebietet es aber, unser Geschäfte mit dem Iran auf eine neue Grundlage zu stellen. Auch das ist ein Stück gesamtverantwortlicher Unternehmensführung.“
Protest at the Daimler annual meeting on April 14, 2010
STOP THE BOMB will protest against Daimler's Iran business, while members of STOP THE BOMB will ask the board crucial questions.
Venue: Special entrance to Messe Berlin, corner Masurenallee/Messedamm, 14055 Berlin. (U2 Kaiserdamm or S-Messe-Nord, Map)
Time: April 14, 2010, 9.00 am to 12 am.
Daimler in Iran
Last update on April 12, 2010.
Daimler maintains an office in Tehran. [1] The general distributor of Mercedes Benz passenger cars is Setareh Iran. [2]
The state owned Iranian company Iran Khodro produces licensed Mercedes Benz cars. One of Daimlers business partners in Iran is thus directly connected to the Iranian regime. Iran Khodro is under the political influence of Ahmadinejads Government[3] and was at least once used in efforts to import materials for the sanctioned nuclear program under the disguise of civilian use. [4]
Current news report that Iran Khodro is planning to be privatized.[5] Often in Iran such "privatizations" mean that the Revolutionary Guards take over the companies, while private or foreign investors don't have a chance. The last case was the Telecommunication Company of Iran.[6]
The Iran Khodro Diesel Company is a leading manufacturer of commercial vehicles in Iran as well as in many other countries of the Near East and worldwide. In Iran they have a local market share of 70%. The company proudly mentions "half a century experience under licence of Daimler Benz (Germany)."[7]
Iran Khodro Diesel still offers various trucks with three axles[8], e.g. the nearly 10 meter long Mercedes Benz Axor 2628 with an gross vehicle weight of 26.000 kilos[9] or the Mercedes Benz Actros 3331K with a gross vehicle weight of 33.000 kilos. [10]
Such trucks can at least, after a conversion, be used for military means, which is why there are export restrictions: "After the Iranian army had on several occasions publicly displayed trucks that had been converted into mobile rocket launchers, the German Economics Ministry in April 2008 issued a ban on the export of 'trucks with three or more axles and a gross vehicle weight of more than 20,000 kilograms (44,000 lbs)' to Iran and Syria. In the past, Daimler has sold up to 1,000 trucks a year to Iranian companies."[11]
Daimler chief lobbyist Martin Jäger, until 2008 spokesman for former Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier,[12] in April 2009 wrote an urgent letter to the Foreign Ministry protesting against export restrictions. Daimler has also applied for a permit to export the trucks with potential military use to the Islamic Republic of Iran -- despite the embargo.[13]
At the annual meeting 2009 Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler Dieter Zetsche answered a question regarding the use of Mercedes trucks for firing missiles: "The conversion by third parties cannot be controlled."[14]
In 2004 there was a police raid of the Daimler office because of 453 trucks, which were suspected of being delivered to Iran via Saudi-Arabia. Military experts believed that such vehicles can be converted for military purposes. [15]
Daimler owns 30% shares of the Iranian Diesel Engine Manufacturing Co. (IDEM), which claims to be the leading manufacturer of diesel engines in Iran and the Middle East. The rest of the shares are owned by Iran Khodro and Iran Khodro Diesel. IDEM produces engines for trucks, cars, and industrial machines under license of Daimler. [16]
One of the customers of IDEM engines is the Iranian Heavy Equipment Production Company (Hepco). The company describes it's mission as follows: "The Company is engaged in the manufacturing, distribution and product support of road construction, mining & agricultural equipments, as well as fabrication and installation of voluminous parts for oil, gas, petrochemical and power generation projects”. [17]
Daimler is obviously willing to endanger its business in the U.S. for its Iran activities. Florida, among and many other states, have passed laws that pension funds have to divest from companies that are active in the Iranian energy business, which includes machines to develop infrastructure. [18] Similar laws have been passed by the US Senate and Congress. [19] Also public contracts in the US are endangered by Daimler's Iran business. For example, Siemens lost a 300 million dollar contract in Los Angeles in September 2009 because of political pressure and its' Iran business. [20]
The Daimler AG, with 25%, is the biggest and most important shareholder of the German Tognum AG, to which also the engine manufacturer MTU belongs. According to a study of critical shareholders MTU has delivered diesel engines for 10 Iranian "Kaman" military patrol boats. "The engines are offered as complete ‚system solutions', which includes stocks of spare parts and repair tools as well as training on board the ships. Additionally, the company offers a continuous and worldwide available service." [21]
You may also be interested in an older flyer of the peace initiative Stuttgart (German) about Daimler's Iran business and the answers from Daimler's board on questions regarding Iran from the 2009 annual meeting (German).
[1] www3.mercedes-benz.com/mbcom_v4/ir/en.html Daimler
[3] Iranian Minister of Industries and Mines Ali-Akbar Mehrabian "presided over changes at the top of a number of large government-owned industrial firms such as motor vehicle manufacturing giant Iran Khodro. He has also overseen the knock-down sale of Iran's government-owned tractor-producing industry to holding companies owned by Iran's Revolutionary Guards.” Can Majles block Ahmadinejad's advance?, 31.8.2009, www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2009/08/can-majles-block-ahmadinejads-advance.htmlDaimler
[4] In March 2009 Iran Khodro made headlines after the head of the company tried to import big amounts of carbon fiber. He acted on orders of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, who is also responsible for the Iranian nuclear program. The material is on the UN blacklist, because it can be used for building centrifuges to enrich uranium.
Diplomats: Iran's national car company seeks banned carbon fiber, Haaretz, 12.3.2009, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1070567.htmlDaimler
[5] Iran Khodro, Saipa to be privatized: official, Tehran Times, 12.4.2010, www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=217331
[6] Elite Guard in Iran Tightens Grip With Media Move, New York Times, 9.10.2009, www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/world/middleeast/09iran.html?_r=1&ref=world
(See also footnote 3.)Daimler
[7] http://www.ikd-co.com/English/AboutUs.aspx
"When you are on the road between Tehran and Isfahan, you could believe that there is hardly another producer of trucks and buses in Iran. Incessantly the big vehicles of the German company are rolling." Geschäfte auf Sparflamme, Tagesschau, 23.6.2009, www.tagesschau.de/wirtschaft/iran538.html
[8] http://www.ikd-co.com/English/Products.aspx
[9] http://www.ikd-co.com/English/ShowDocumentFile.aspx?f=37
[10] http://www.ikd-co.com/English/ShowDocumentFile.aspx?f=42
[11] Landmark court decision, Der Spiegel, 15.6.2009, http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,630778,00.html
[12] Diplomat geht zur Industrie: Daimlers neuer Außenminister, Stern, 31.8.2008, www.stern.de/politik/deutschland/diplomat-geht-zur-industrie-daimlers-neuer-aussenminister-636471.html
[13] Meister im Verhindern, Der Spiegel, 15.6.2009, www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-65717394.html
[14] http://www.rib-ev.de/stuff/Artikel_JG/Daimler-HV-09_REDE-FRAGEN+AW+KOMMENTAR_JG.docDaimler
[15] Razzien bei Daimler-Chrysler – LKW-Geschäfte mit Iran, Handelsblatt 12.12.2004, www.handelsblatt.com/archiv/razzien-bei-daimler-chrysler-lkw-geschaefte-mit-iran;833469
[16] http://www.idem.ir/htm/Mainprod.HTM
[17] http://www.hepcoir.com/HepcoInfo_en.asp?x=aglance
[18] Geschäfte mit Iran - Florida straft Daimler und Siemens ab, Der Spiegel, 18.6.2007, www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/0,1518,489119,00.html
[19] Iran Sanctions Bill Passed, 29.1.2010, www.newsmax.com/KenTimmerman/kentimmerman-iran-sanctions-ComprehensiveIranSanctionsAccountabilityandDivestmentAct/2010/01/29/id/348380Daimler
[20] http://de.stopthebomb.net/en/start/germany/siemens.html
[21] http://www.wir-kaufen-keinen-mercedes.de/dokumente/Dokumentation-Tognum-Ruestungsprodukte-April-2010.pdf