Mercedes-Benz likely to post a second-half operating profit
By Andrew C., 27 Aug, 2010. 0 Comments
Mercedes-Benz Logo
For the second half of the year, Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz unit is likely to post an operating profit, according to CEO Dieter Zetsche. Sales were boosted by new versions of the E-Class and S-Class models, says Autonews. Zetsche said sales picked up considerably in September after months of poor performance. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Zetsche said that the company is "more confident than ever" about getting a positive operating result at Mercedes-Benz in the second half.
Zetsche also said that we can expect that Daimler will participate in cooperation projects with other carmakers, particularly in the field of small and compact cars. He said that Daimler would likely announce the deals in the next few months. In the first eight months of 2009, Mercedes' unit sales fell 17% to 711,300 as sales also dropped in the key U.S. and European markets.
Premium carmakers such as Daimler have been hit hard by the economic recession and government scrappage incentives didn't help much since the scheme favored the purchase of smaller cars. For the second quarter, Daimler posted a net loss of 1.06 million euros, compared with a 1.4 million profit the year before.
Latest Auto Shows
