Key R&D figures

In fiscal year 2019, we filed 7,614 (7,639) patent applications worldwide for employee inventions, the majority of them in Germany. The fact that an ever increasing share of these patents is for important cutting-edge fields underscores our Company’s innovative power. These fields include driver assistance systems and automation, connectivity, alternative drive systems and lightweight construction.

The Automotive Division’s total research and development costs in the reporting period amounted to €14.3 (13.6) billion and were 4.9% higher than in the previous year; their percentage of the Automotive Division’s sales revenue – the R&D ratio – came to 6.7 (6.8)%. Along with new models, the focus was primarily on the electrification of our vehicle portfolio, a more efficient range of engines, digitalization and new technologies. The capitalization ratio was 36.1 (38.4)%. Research and development expenditure recognized in profit or loss in accordance with IFRSs increased to €13.2 (12.1) billion.

As of December 31, 2019, our Research and Development departments – including the equity-accounted Chinese joint ventures – employed 54,947 people (+5.8%) Group-wide, corresponding to 8.2% of the total workforce.