MAHLE Successfully Drives Sustainability Forward

Summary

The MAHLE Group successfully continued its sustainability activities in 2023. The automotive supplier made particularly significant progress in reducing its CO₂ emissions. This allowed for, among other things, a greater use of renewable electricity in production.

MAHLE reached another milestone with the validation of its climate targets for 2030 by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). In addition, MAHLE implemented an externally validated method for calculating the environmental impact of its products. This method enables product development for the benefit of its customers to become significantly more sustainable.

The group also made progress in occupational safety by reducing the frequency of accidents in its plants. "We are on track with our sustainability goals," said Georg Dietz, member of the Group Management Board and responsible, among other things, for sustainability, environmental management and occupational safety. "Sustainable thinking and acting permeates all areas of activity for our group. That is why we have firmly anchored measurable sustainability goals in our MAHLE 2030+ Group strategy." 

Compared with base year 2019, MAHLE reduced its emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels (Scope 1) and the import of purchased electricity (Scope 2) by 43%. This puts the technology group on track to achieve its intermediate goal:  reducing these emissions by 49% by 2030. MAHLE aims to become CO₂-neutral by 2040, in accordance with the goals set out in the Paris Agreement.

Compared to 2022, MAHLE increased its use of renewable electricity by 10%. This was mainly achieved via the increased use of solar power–for example, in a new installation at the plant in Izmir (Turkey). In addition, MAHLE leveraged solar thermal energy, such as at the MAHLE site in Gurgaon, India, to operate a water heating system.

MAHLE reduced emissions in the area of supply chain and product use (Scope 3) by 9%. For 2030, the reduction target for this area is 28% of 2019 levels.

In terms of occupational safety, MAHLE came a big step closer to its goal of reducing the accident rate to 2.3 per million work hours by 2030.  This measurement takes into account all accidents which result in at least one workday being lost. In 2023, the rate dropped from 3.0 to 2.8. "This is a very good development. We make no compromises when it comes to protecting our employees in the workplace. Occupational safety is a MAHLE top priority,” said Kathrin Apel, global head of Sustainability, Health, Occupational Safety and Environmental Management at MAHLE.

In 2023, a further 20 MAHLE plants were certified according to the ISO 45001 standard. This brings the number of certified locations to 123. The ISO 45001 standard consists of requirements for occupational health and safety management in order to minimize the risk of health damage and accidents in the workplace.

In the year under review, MAHLE also adjusted its targets for the promotion of women to leadership positions as part of its group strategy. By 2030, the group aims to increase the proportion of women worldwide from the current 8-13% in the first management level and from the current 11-18% in the second management.

The newly released MAHLE Sustainability Report 2023 provides insights into the current progress of the company''s sustainability initiatives. It was written in accordance with the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).

About MAHLE

MAHLE is a leading international development partner and supplier to the automotive industry with customers in both passenger car and commercial vehicle sectors. Founded in 1920, the technology group is working on the climate-neutral mobility of tomorrow, with a focus on the strategic areas of e-mobility and thermal management as well as further technology fields to reduce CO2 emissions, such as fuel cells or highly efficient, clean combustion engines that also run on synthetic fuels or hydrogen. Today, one in every two vehicles globally is equipped with MAHLE components.