Daimler on Wednesday said it was expecting sales to rise twice as fast as the global car market this year after a difficult 2009.
“Our sales objective is of course ambitious but realistic: we want to grow twice as fast as the global automobile market,” chief executive Dieter Zetsche told the annual shareholders’ meeting in Berlin, according to an AFP report.
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He said the company was operating on the assumption that worldwide car sales would rise 3-4%while its own turnover would surge 6-8%.
Daimler, which last week announced a partnership with Renault and Nissan to cut costs and accelerate sales of low-pollution electric cars, also confirmed its projections for the year, with operating profit of over EUR2.3bn (US$3.1bn).
Group turnover was seen rising this year but remaining weaker than in 2008, before the financial crisis.
Daimler saw a 10.1% drop in 2009 sales, with a net loss of EUR2.6bn despite an improvement in the second half of the year.
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By GlobalDataZetsche said the company would pay no dividend for 2009, calling the step “necessary and in the long-term interest of shareholders”, but pledged a dividend for 2010, AFP added.
