With the recent fall in Daimler’s share price, chief executive Dieter Zetsche is looking for new growth areas.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
He has put together a working team under a project called ‘Business Innovation’, to help deliver growth and protect the company from takeover.
According to Automobilwoche, the team is being led by Jérôme Guillen, a Frenchman brought across to corporate headquarters from Freightliner. He has a team of around 15 department heads.
Zetsche has given the team a wide brief. The only limiting factor is that new business areas must have something to do with automotive.
Automobilwoche reports that Daimler is likely to seek new opportunities in financing and insurance, and step up activities in vehicle hire and used vehicle sales. Parts sales will also be reviewed as an opportunity. The advantage of these business sectors is that they are not very capital intensive. Business acquisitions are also a possibility.
Daimler is considered vulnerable to takeover as it has practically no large shareholders left since Deutsche Bank sold its shares.
In November last year Daimler shares rose to a peak of EUR78. Their value currently stands at EUR53.
