Frankfurt am Main: German luxury carmaker Daimler on Thursday announced record profits for 2017 on the back of strong SUV and truck sales, but the results were overshadowed by the firm's connection to controversial diesel exhaust tests on monkeys.

Daimler said net profits soared by 24 percent last year to 10.9 billion euros ($13.5 billion), while revenues were up seven percent to 164 billion euros.