Daimler AG staff rejoices as it has been confirmed that each member will get 1,900 euros plus interest with their December pay slips. After the company threw away plans to switch to stock awards as a method to conserve liquidity, it estimated that it will get about 280 million euros ($417.4 million) in profit-sharing payments in cash. Last Tuesday, Daimler revealed that the change was made after consulting with the works council because tax issues made the proposed system unappealing.

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Daimler is reportedly seeking to buy a 15% stake in truck maker Kamaz from Russian investment company Troika Dialog, bringing its stake up to 25%, according to a report by business daily Vedomosti which cited two sources close to Kamaz shareholders. At the moment, the parties are negotiating over the purchase price. No other details were available about the terms of the deal.

Daimler was expected to notify Troika Dialog, which holds 44.4% in Kamaz, whether it wanted to buy a stake in Kamaz by November 11. The deadline was set after Russian state-owned industrial conglomerate Rostekhnologii made an offer last September to buy 13% in Kamaz from Troika Dialog, which would increase its stake to a controlling share from the current 37.8%. The daily said however, that Daimler has preemptive rights to buy out Troika Dialog’s shares in the truck maker. Last Monday, a 15% stake in Kamaz was worth US$259.5 million on the Russian Trading System Stock Exchange (RTS).

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Teaming up to jointly acquire a majority of Formula One champions Brawn GP seems to have whet Aabar’s appetite for more as it now says that it wants to raise its 9.1% stake to 15%. This statement was made by Khadem al Qubaisi, the chairman of Aabar, Daimler AG’s largest shareholder. These comments resulted to a 4% increase in Daimler shares. Continued after the jump!

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Trouble is brewing over the hybrid partnership between BMW and Daimler, according to a report from the Germany publication, Auto Motor & Sport. The two car companies, which have been partners for the past several years, were bent on improving vehicle safety technology and have so far, given rise to the two-mode hybrid.

A BMW spokesperson admits that there are ongoing talks with other carmakers that might a yield a better solution for BMW. Daimler reportedly still wants the partnership to continue due to the cost savings it can deliver in the coming years as hybrids expand through the Mercedes-Benz lineup, including the S400 and ML450 hybrids. The report says that Daimler’s plans to go fully electric are being laid fast so a problem with its hybrid operations may not be as damaging as first thought. Nevertheless, electric drive has a long way to go and until it expands outside of the Smart lineup in Daimler’s plans, hybrid drive is the only way to satisfy the need for an environmentally friendly car that is a top performer as well.

Tags:bmw daimler parntership news, bmw daimler partnership end, bmw news, car news, daimler news
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Aabar Investments PJSC, a well-known investor in the UAE, made maybe the most intelligent move in these difficult financial times: it acquired a 9.1% stake in Daimler for an impressive $2.7 billion or €1,95 billion (each stock was priced at €20,27).

For this move, Automotorsport reports that Daimler had to increase its capital by 10% to enable the Arab investment company to buy the stocks. Let’s just hope that this move will be a good one also for Daimler! P.S. the Aabar Investmets PJSC is owned almost entirely by International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) which is owned by the government of Abu Dhabi!

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It was confirmed by a senior official that Daimler has no intention of buying Opel. The Daimler agenda does not provide for the takeover of Opel as well as Volvo and Saab, the official said. A report was recently published by Max Warburton, an analyst for the auto industry of Bernstein Research, implying that the purchase of Opel would be a good way for Daimler to expand its expertise in small car production.

He has estimated that the high-end car manufacturer has lost in excess than 7 billion Euros (6.2 billion Pounds) on the A-class and Smart. Chief selling vehicles like premium saloons and trucks have also experienced significant decline in the past months, but the carmaker has been sluggish in announcing plans to lower costs and restructure. Since the Government of Germany has no intention of taking Opel from GM but welcomes a third-party owner and it would help in facilitating the transfer. Among the potential saviors of Opel, BMW was also named. The move of the carmaker toward economical saloons and diminutives has provided it with significant experience in the diminutive range that it would not like to replicate. The cost structure of the Mini, according to analysts, is currently scarcely viable. The Mini is BMW’s lowest-volume platform but it is also the company’s lowest-priced vehicle. Adopting a genuinely low-cost, mass-market production system could very well benefit BMW.

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