Portfolio increase in first quarter of 2008

Daimler Financial Services increased its contract volume by 2% to €58.3 billion in the first quarter of 2008. In the first quarter of 2008, 15 subsidiaries were fully consolidated for the first time (mainly in Eastern Europe and Asia). Adjusted for these consolidation effects and for exchange-rate effects, the increase was 7%. New business of €6.7 billion was 2% below the prior-year level. After adjusting for the two aforementioned factors, there was also a decrease of 2%.

EBIT of €168 million reported by Daimler Financial Services for the first quarter of 2008 was lower than the result for the prior-year period (Q1 2007: €214 million). The decrease in earnings was mainly due to the expenses incurred to set up a new financial services organization in the NAFTA region following the transfer of a majority interest in Chrysler. Increased risk costs also had a negative impact, but remained below the long-term average. There was a positive impact on earnings, however, from the increased contract volume.

Daimler Financial Services anticipates a moderate increase in its business volume as the year progresses. Despite the expenses connected with developing its own financial services organization in North America, Daimler Financial Services continues to assume that it will achieve a return on equity of at least 14% in full-year 2008.