On 1st February 2022, Daimler rebranded itself as Mercedes-Benz AG. To reflect this development, InfluenceMap’s scoring has combined data analyzed for Daimler prior to this date with data analyzed for Mercedes-Benz after 1st February 2022.

Climate Lobbying Overview: Mercedes-Benz AG has actively engaged with climate legislation in Europe and the United States in 2021-23 with mixed positioning. The company appears to show mixed engagement on key climate policies for road transport, such as EU CO2 emission standards and California’s proposed ZEV mandate, while advocating for measures to support EV infrastructure expansion. Mercedes-Benz AG holds memberships to several highly regressive industry associations in Germany, the EU and US.

Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Mercedes-Benz has stated support for the Paris Agreement in its 2022 Climate Policy Report, published in April 2023, and in a March 2022 letter signed by its chairman. The company also appeared to support California's goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 in a May 2022 consultation response. While Mercedes-Benz indicated broad support for government regulation in its previous Climate Policy Report, published in March 2022, it appears to favor market-based solutions, stating that emission trading schemes "should be the future leading regulatory instrument for the decarbonisation of transport".

Daimler previously appeared to support the US re-joining the Paris Agreement in a February 2021 social media post, as well as supporting the EU Green Deal and signalling a commitment to its goals in a February 2021 social media post.

Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Mercedes-Benz AG appears to have mixed engagement on GHG emission standards for road transport in the EU and US. A July 2021 Daimler press response to the EU Fit for 55 package, which includes a 2035 zero-emissions target for light-duty vehicles, took an unclear position on the policy, with the company’s development chief stating that the higher 2030 and zero-emissions 2035 CO2 targets are "very, very ambitious". Daimler's 2021 CDP response also discloses that "any tightening of current CO2 targets should be accompanied by ambitious binding targets for infrastructure (charging and H2) on EU member states level". In June 2022, following the EU Parliament’s vote in favour of the proposed 2035 zero-emissions CO2 target, Mercedes-Benz appeared to welcome the policy in a media statement reported by Automotive News.

In the US, Mercedes-Benz AG has opposed more ambitious GHG emissions standards for light-duty vehicles. In a September 2021 Mercedes-Benz consultation response, Daimler appeared not to support higher GHG emissions stringency options, supporting only a mid-range option that included numerous flexibilities that would potentially weaken the stringency of the proposal. In its 2021 CDP Climate Change Information Request, the company stated support for a national program for vehicle GHG emissions that includes California and all other states “to avoid regulatory fragmentation”, indicating opposition to California’s ability set its own, more ambitious emissions standards.

Mercedes-Benz's 2022 Climate Policy Report, published in April 2023, states general support for a carbon tax and emissions trading. However it cautions that “the social and economic effects of tightened CO₂ pricing mechanisms, as for example increasing energy costs, must also be taken into account by political decision-makers”. Mercedes-Benz also appears to support the integration of the transport sector into emissions trading, as indicated by its 2022 Climate Policy Report. Mercedes Benz CEO, Ola Källenius, has repeatedly shown support for a carbon tax, advocating for its implementation in a July 2021 Salzburger Nachrichten media report. In an April 2021 Independent media report, Daimler called on European policymakers to boost incentives for climate-neutral technologies, including taxing carbon and emissions trading.

Mercedes-Benz also appears to broadly support an expansion of renewable energy in the energy mix, advocating for “regulations that accelerate the expansion of renewable energies and enable the electrification of transport with a growing share of green electricity” in its 2022 Climate Policy Report, published in April 2023. Previously, Daimler supported a massive acceleration of capacity build-up of renewable energy in Europe in a joint CEO letter to the EU Commission in July 2021. A July 2021 Daimler tweet further seemed to support a 55% 2030 EU GHG emissions target.

Positioning on Energy Transition: Mercedes-Benz has increasingly positive top-line messaging around electric vehicles. In November 2021, for example, it signed a global pledge made at COP26 supporting a global phase-out of internal combustion engine (ICE)-powered vehicles in leading markets by 2035 and globally by 2040. However, Daimler's CEO appeared unsupportive of policies to ban ICE vehicles in an interview regarding supporting such a pledge in November 2021.

Regarding ZEV mandates, in a May 2022 US consultation response, Mercedes-Benz appeared unsupportive of California's proposed Advanced Clean Cars II regulation, which would require an increasing percentage of new light-duty EV sales each year until a 100% ZEV mandate in 2035, advocating for numerous flexibilities.

Mercedes Benz AG appears to support electric vehicle charging infrastructure policies. In a March 2022 speech, Mercedes-Benz CEO, Ola Källenius, advocated for more ambitious EU charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. Similarly, a February 2023 Bild article reported that Källenius called on the German government to increase charging infrastructure in Germany. The company also appeared supportive of infrastructure expansion more broadly in its 2022 Climate Policy Report, published in April 2023. Additionally, in a January 2022 US consultation response, Daimler appeared to strongly support the development of a national infrastructure plan to support a growing US ZEV market in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

Industry Association Governance: Mercedes-Benz discloses its membership of key industry associations in its 2022 Climate Policy Report, published in April 2023, which includes some industry associations’ climate policy positions and information regarding Mercedes-Benz alignment and influence around this. Mercedes Benz’s CEO, Ola Källenius, is on the board of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) and the Federation of German Industries (BDI), both of which have mixed to negative engagement on EU climate policy. Källenius is also vice-president of the German Automotive Association (VDA), which has negative engagement on EU and German climate policy. The company is a member of a number of groups that have maintained regressive positions on climate policy including BusinessEurope, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the Australia-based Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), as well as US-based Alliance for Automotive Innovation and National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).

A detailed assessment of the company's corporate review on climate policy engagement can be found on InfluenceMap's CA100+ Investor Hub here.

InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q2 2023.