German automaker Daimler said Wednesday it expected sales to accelerate twice as fast as the global car market this year after a punishing 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 Daimler shareholders' meeting in Berlin.
He said the company was operating on the assumption that world-wide car sales would rise three to four percent while its own turnover would surge six to eight percent. Daimler, which last week announced a partnership with auto giants 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 more than 2.3 billion euros (3.1 billion dollars).
The manufacturer of luxury Mercedes cars and the ultra-compact Smart said group turnover would rise this year but remain weaker than in 2008, before the financial crisis rode roughshod over the global auto industry. Daimler saw a 10.1 percent drop in 2009 sales, with a net loss of 2.6 billion euros, despite an improvement in the second half of the year. Zetsche 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.