Mercedes-Benz Cars is expected to report the best unit sales it has ever achieved in a first quarter, division head and Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche said in Hungary on Thursday (29 March).
He spoke as Daimler opened a plant in Kecskemét to build the redesigned B-class line.
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Zetsche said the medium-term target for unit sales was over 1.5m in 2014 and over 1.6m in 2015 compared with 1,279,100 in 2011.
He said Mercedes-Benz Cars – which posted record 2011 results – would further improve profitability through project-related cooperation such as with Renault/Nissan, as well as through savings achieved from the module and platform strategies and improved efficiency in the value chain. At the same time, the enhanced flexibility of the international production network would make possible faster reaction to fluctuations in demand.
Due to savings from the module strategy and further efficiency actions, the division will be able to compensate for the cost burden anticipated in the automotive industry from rising raw-material prices and investments to reduce CO2 emissions, thus safeguarding its profitability targets.
“We are approaching our targeted return on sales of 10%, which we want to achieve on a sustained basis as of 2013 – on the assumption that our business environment will remain stable,” said Zetsche.
The new Hungarian plant would supplement an existing factory in Rastatt, Germany and would “make a key contribution to economy through volume flexibility”.
Profitability in the compact car segment would be additionally improved compared with the previous generation by producing a significantly higher volume of five different cars from the same architecture instead of two, and by spreading the production network over three plants (Rastatt, Kecskemét and Beijing).
Daimler had invited investors and analysts to attend a division day in Kecskemét.
