Mercedes-Benz Group

Does the core business genuinely avoid or reduce emissions, or build climate resilience? Share of revenue that is actually 'green'. Fossil-dependent models score low.

The vast majority of Mercedes-Benz's fleet remains ICE or PHEV; BEV passenger car share was only ~9–10% globally in 2024 and full-year global BEV car+van sales fell ~22% YoY, meaning the core product still delivers high lifecycle emissions at scale.

Credible, science-based targets (SBTi), a real net-zero plan with progress to date, and CDP disclosure — not just a dated press release.

SBTi has validated Mercedes-Benz AG's Scope 1+2 target (−50% by 2030 vs 2018) at 1.5°C and a Scope 3 use-phase target (−42% per vehicle-km by 2030) at well-below-2°C; the company also has a 'Ambition 2039' net carbon-neutral new-vehicle fleet goal, but Scope 3 carbon budget is projected to be exceeded by ~19% in the 2020–2025 period and the original 'all-electric by 2030 where market conditions allow' target was quietly dropped.

Operational footprint, labour and social practices, and governance quality across the company's own operations and supply chain.

Production sites have been net carbon-neutral since 2022 (using offsets and green electricity), a battery recycling plant with >96% material recovery rate opened in 2024, and the company leads peers on supply-chain raw-material due diligence; however, labour and social practices in the broader supply chain, particularly cobalt sourcing, remain areas of ongoing monitoring rather than verified resolution.

Quality of disclosure, independent third-party verification, and how much hard data backs the company's claims.

Mercedes-Benz achieved a CDP A− in 2024, publishes annual Climate Transition Action Plans, TCFD/SASB/GRI-aligned sustainability reports, and integrates sustainability into its annual report for the first time in 2024; however, InfluenceMap flags that the company excludes at least three industry associations actively engaged on climate policy from its disclosure, and the gap between public climate messaging and actual lobbying positions is not fully reconciled.

Controversies, litigation, pollution, fossil-fuel lobbying, conflict-zone involvement and governance scandals. Higher means cleaner.

Mercedes-Benz faces severe and ongoing integrity headwinds: a $149.6M settlement with 48 U.S. states in December 2025 over diesel defeat devices installed across ~211,000 vehicles between 2008–2016 (on top of a prior $2.2B U.S. federal settlement in 2020), continued investigations in Canada and by the German KBA with mandatory recalls through 2024, South Korean sanctions, a 2024 Brazilian antitrust proceeding, and documented lobbying to weaken EU CO2 fleet standards and oppose ICE bans.