About the report

• The reporting is in accordance with the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in the “Core” option
• The report includes the combined separate non-financial report in accordance with the CSR Directive Implementation Act

The Schaeffler Group publishes an annual sustainability report. The Schaeffler Sustainability Report 2019 was published in March 2020. The current reporting period corresponds to the business year that runs from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020. The editorial deadline for this report was February 12, 2021. The information relates to the entire Schaeffler Group with its business fields. If the details and representations of concepts pertain to other entities, this is pointed out accordingly. The Sustainability Report including the combined separate non-financial report is publicly available on the company’s website. The Sustainability Report was written up by order of the Executive Board of the Schaeffler Group. The Board reviewed and released the report content.

Combined separate non-financial report

In this report, the Schaeffler Group discloses the required non-financial information for the 2020 fiscal year in accordance with Sections 289, 315 of the German Commercial Code (HGB) (in accordance with the CSR Directive Implementation Act). The company exercises the option, in accordance with Section 315b (3) HGB, to produce a combined separate non-financial report (GNFK) apart from the group management report. The separate non-financial report was thereby combined with the separate non-financial report of the parent company in accordance with Section 315b (1) (2) HGB and integrated into the Sustainability Report. The corresponding passages are marked with . References to information outside of this icon are to be understood as additional information; these are not mandatory components of the GNFK.

The combined separate non-financial report for the 2020 fiscal year for the Schaeffler Group and Schaeffler AG was reviewed by the Supervisory Board of Schaeffler AG and by the auditing firm KPMG AG on behalf of the Supervisory Board with respect to the legally required information in accordance with Sections 315b 315c in conjunction with 289b to 289e HGB for the purpose of obtaining limited assurance engagement. This follows the International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000 (Revised): “Assurance Engagements other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information” issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB). Further information on the Independent Auditor’s Report on checking the combined separate non-financial report for the purpose of obtaining limited assurance engagement can be found in the Report of the Independent Auditor.

Guidelines for data collection and presentation

The following guidelines on the key figures and data points are valid for the entire report unless otherwise stated: This report includes all major domestic and foreign subsidiaries that are directly or indirectly controlled by Schaeffler AG. The companies are included from the date on which the Schaeffler Group gains control until the date control is lost. The survey period is from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020.

When preparing the report, it is necessary in some instances to make appropriate estimates/projections, which are documented internally, to present the complete survey period. Actual values may differ from these estimates and will be corrected in the following year’s reporting. Methodical and structural changes are corrected in principle. Additional comments are provided for deviations greater than 5 %. Differences may occur due to commercial rounding of amounts and percentages. Contrary to the above-mentioned principles, the cutoff deadline for key figures and employee relationships is generally December 31, 2020. The persons referred to as employees in this report are members of the internally defined “workforce” category. Temporary staff, apprentices, interns, and contract workers as well as inactive employees are not included.

The scope of key figure consolidation for greenhouse gas emissions, total energy consumption, water withdrawal, waste generation, and recycling rates in the environmental area refers to the production sites defined as essential in the EnEHS Group manual. The majority of these production sites already have ISO14001, ISO50001, ISO45001, and EMAS site registrations; the reporting date is December 31, 2020.

Forward-looking statements

This document contains forward-looking statements that reflect management’s current views with respect to future events. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that are beyond the Schaeffler Group’s ability to control or estimate precisely, such as future market and economic conditions, the behavior of other market participants, the ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses and achieve anticipated synergies, and the actions of government regulators. If any of these cases or other risks and uncertainties occur, or if the assumptions underlying any of these statements prove incorrect, then actual results may be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements.

The Schaeffler Group does not intend or assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this report.

The Schaeffler Group’s Sustainability Report is available in German and English. In case of discrepancies, the German version is binding.

Editorial notes

This report has been formulated in a gender-neutral language wherever possible. Using masculine, feminine, or diverse terms have been refrained due to readability reasons. Of course, all texts refer equally to all gender identities.

The company accepts questions and comments about responsible corporate management at the Schaeffler Group via the e-mail address sustainability@schaeffler.com.