Stakeholder engagement at Mercedes-Benz.

Stakeholders are people or organisations that have legal, financial, ethical or ecological demands on or expectations of a company. Our primary stakeholders include our customers, employees, investors and suppliers. In addition to them, we maintain a regular dialogue with academia, civil society groups such as NGOs, and industry associations, trade unions, the media and local authorities at our sites.

To strengthen our group-wide dialogue with stakeholders, the Mercedes-Benz Group has defined clear responsibilities and communication channels and established specific dialogue formats, which are organised in the Board of Management department Integrity, Governance and Sustainability and other areas such as External Affairs. The formats include:

• Advisory Board for Integrity and Sustainability: The members of this Advisory Board – external experts from the worlds of academia, civil society and business – have been critically and constructively supporting the Mercedes-Benz Group in integrity, sustainability and corporate responsibility matters since 2012. The Advisory Board meets several times a year under the leadership of the Board of Management Member responsible for Integrity, Governance & Sustainability.
• Mercedes-Benz Sustainability Dialogue: The annual Mercedes-Benz Sustainability Dialogue has been taking place for more than 17 years. Representatives of NGOs, think tanks and politicians meet members of the Mercedes-Benz Group’s Board of Management and senior management to challenge and constructively criticise our company's strategy in open, in-depth discussions. This provides us with valuable input. Such dialogues now take place in various markets.
• Initiatives and networks: We are members of various initiatives and networks where we engage with stakeholders on developments in the sustainability field. We are a founding member of the UN Global Compact (UNGC)  and its national organisation in Germany, the UN Global Compact Network Germany . We are also involved in econsense  – Forum for Sustainable Development of German Business e.V. and in the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) .

For us at Mercedes-Benz, dialogue with stakeholders plays a key role in defining and constantly reviewing our corporate strategy. Such dialogues aim to build up mutual trust and promote innovation and are also an expression of our aspiration to be a responsible player in the mobility industry.

This article was last updated in September 2026.