Posts Tagged ‘daimler news’

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Daimler Q1 Earnings Fall by Over Half

German maker slashes full-year forecast.

by on Apr.24, 2013

Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche is under increasing pressure to deliver a turnaround.

Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche is under increasing pressure to deliver a turnaround - fast.

Daimler AG suffered through another disappointing quarter as both earnings and revenues tumbled more than analysts expected during the January to March period, putting more pressure on the company’s top executive, Chairman Dieter Zetsche, to produce a turnaround.

The German parent of the Mercedes-Benz and Smart car brands scrapped its 2013 forecast after reporting first quarter earnings before interest and taxes, or EBIT, collapsed by more than half, to 917 million euros from 2.1 billion during the same period a year ago.

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“The company’s margins have collapsed,” observed one analyst during a conference call in which the company’s top executives discussed the quarterly report.

It was an observation senior management struggled to downplay during the call.

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Did Daimler Assist in Argentine Dirty War?

US Supreme Court to consider case which claims German maker assisted in murder, torture.

by on Apr.23, 2013

Protestors in Argentina demanding to know what happened to those who "disappeared" during Argentina's "Dirty War."

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide a contentious case with deep roots in Daimler AG’s dark World War II history – and contentious activities decades later and half a world away.

The case involves the conducts of Daimler employees working in Argentina in the 1970s during a period when the country was ruled by a brutal military dictatorship. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege Daimler employees facilitated the “disappearance” of some of their employees and the torture of others.

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The charges have haunted Daimler for nearly four decades but a favorable ruling, while it might not exonerate the company, would put limits on its liability for the conduct of a handful of employees in Argentina at a time when thousands of junta opponents vanished and likely were murdered.

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Carsharing Could Become Big Business for Daimler, Says CEO

Mercedes’ parent sees global opportunity to supplement conventional car, truck sales.

by on Apr.12, 2013

A Smart car in Berlin, part of Daimler's car2go carsharing service.

After so-so sales during the first quarter, Daimler AG has deferred making any kind of prediction on its first quarter profits from its core automobile and truck business.

However, while Daimler declined to offer revised income and sales forecasts, CEO Dieter Zetsche did tout the success of the company’s fledgling carsharing service, which going forward will serve as the anchor for a new business unit that could bring in as much as $100 million in revenue next year.

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“We see great potential in the expansion of our business operations in the area of innovative mobility services,” Zetsche said. “The car2go (service) made us the world’s fastest-growing provider of carsharing services. In fact, the number of car2go customers has increased roughly fivefold since January 2012. Altogether we have more than 300,000 customers in 18 major cities in Europe and North America,” he noted this week.

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German Unions May Open Doors to UAW at Mercedes’ Alabama Plant

Desperate to organize “transplants,” UAW may finally get help.

by on Apr.11, 2013

Workers at the Tuscaloosa Mercedes plant celebrating the production of the millionth M-Class. Will they vote for the UAW?

Daimler AG is facing new pressure about opening its Mercedes-Benz assembly plant in Alabama up to the long-stalled organizing efforts of the United Auto Workers Union. The big difference is that the maker’s German unions seem ready to throw their hefty support to their struggling U.S. colleagues.

The UAW has been increasingly desperate to organize the so-called “transplant” assembly lines since Honda first landed in the U.S. a quarter-century ago. It has been an all but fruitless challenge complicated by the expansion of those non-union foreign-owned facilities while the organized operations of Detroit’s Big Three have steadily declined in size and employment.

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Cracking into the transplants has become the top priority for Bob King, the current UAW president – and could be a make-or-break effort for a union losing both political clout and cash.  But until recently, most of the emphasis has been on Japanese-owned plants, Nissan in particular. Now, however, the Germans are in the spotlight.

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Daimler’s Zetsche Gets New Contract – And Pay Cut

Daimler’s Zetsche Gets New Contract – And Pay Cut

by on Feb.27, 2013

Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche gets a pay haircut. Photo by Len Katz.

The good news for Daimler AG Chairman Dieter Zetsche is that he’s got another three-year contract. But he’ll have to balance it against the nearly 6% pay cut he’s been ordered to take by the automaker’s supervisory board after the company missed its profit targets and palace intrigue at Daimler’s Stuttgart headquarters begins to intensify.

If misery loves company, Zetsche isn’t alone. As TheDetroitBureau.com reported earlier this week, Volkswagen AG CEO Martin Winterkorn took a nearly $4 million haircut, though his pay still came to nearly $20 million.

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And then there’s General Motors Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson. Early reports indicated he was gunning for a 20% pay hike, which would bring his all-in compensation to $11 million. But with Washington bureaucrats criticizing recent increases in pay for executives at companies that survived the recession through federal bailouts, Akerson apparently decided he’s be comfy with the $9 million he got last year.

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Daimler Boss Zetsche Gets Vote of Confidence

But the CEO and Mercedes brand boss faces tough challenges.

by on Feb.21, 2013

Daimler AG CEO Dieter Zetsche during the preview of the maker's latest E-Class line.

Daimler AG Supervisory Board, facing a troubled European economy and fierce competition from rivals in the luxury segment, has given a three-year extension to Dieter Zetsche, the maker’s chairman and the head of its flagship Mercedes-Benz brand.

There had been some question about whether the contract would be renewed for Zetsche, who turns 60 in May, in light of problems that include slumping sales in China, lagging margins and the ongoing crisis in Europe. But it became clear that Daimler’s board wasn’t willing to risk a leadership change at the moment.

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“The long-term orientation of the Group’s leadership is an essential factor for Daimler’s sustained success,” noted Manfred Bischoff, chairman of Daimler’s supervisory board. “Dieter Zetsche and the Board of Management have a clear plan how to further enhance Daimler’s overall performance together with their team. Dieter Zetsche is distinguished of course by his great experience, but also by his ability to combine a feeling for cars with sound engineering knowledge and an entrepreneurial approach,” Bischoff added.

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European Crisis Puts Squeeze on Daimler

“Great achievements” tempered by missed targets.

by on Feb.08, 2013

Daimler AG CEO Dieter Zetsche during a preview of the latest Mercedes-Benz E-Class.

With European auto sales sliding to their lowest level in decades last year, the impact has been available, even for the industry’s strongest, most globalized players. That notably includes Daimler AG, which is scrambling to find ways to slash costs after watching its earnings before interest and taxes, or EBIT, drop by 10% in 2012 despite record sales at Mercedes-Benz Cars.

The group’s net profit did rise to 6.5 billion euros, compared to a 6 billion euro net profit for 2011. Last year’s results, however, included a one-time gain on the sale of 7.5% of Daimler’s shares of EAD, the European aerospace and defense company.

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Despite putting a spin on 2012 as a year with “some great achievements,” Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, acknowledged that, “Notwithstanding our success and the numerous pioneering investments in 2012, it is a fact that we did not reach our own targets for earnings and profitability,”

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Daimler Debuts Alert System for Wrong-Way Drivers

Will be introduced on new Mercedes S- and E-Class models.

by on Feb.06, 2013

The new system will alert a driver who might be entering a one-way street or highway heading the wrong way.

Head-on collisions are often among the most deadly highway accidents, and some of the most tragic involve vehicles that inadvertently get on a freeway or one-way street heading the wrong direction.

But a new system developed by Daimler AG could alert drivers who’re heading the wrong way. The technology is planned to debut on the all-new Mercedes-Benz S-Class and E-Class models later this year.

“’There’s a vehicle driving the wrong way on the A1, the A2, the A5, the A46…’ – over the last three months, this type of report has been worrying Germany almost weekly,” observed Thomas Weber, member of the Daimler board of management responsible for Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development.

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During this short period, he noted, “more than 25 people died through no fault of their own because they collided with a vehicle travelling the wrong way on motorways or dual carriageways” in Germany alone. And the situation has been repeated in the U.S., Britain, China and just about everywhere else.

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Daimler Ups Ante on China

Maker takes major stake in Chinese partner.

by on Feb.04, 2013

The Mercedes-Benz CSC concept at last year's Beijing Motor Show.

After suffering a series of setbacks in the world’s largest automotive market last year, Daimler AG isn’t planning to let that happen again. It has already shaken up its management team and now the parent of Mercedes-Benz is taking a major stake in its Chinese partner.

Daimler will invest $875 million for a 12% share of BAIC Motor, a subsidiary of Beijing Automotive Industries Corp. BAIC produces Mercedes vehicles for the Chinese market. The investment appears to be a first step towards a planned initial public offering by BAIC Motor, according to Chinese auto industry observers.

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“Our investment is a strong sign of the increased level of trust and cooperation between our two companies and clearly emphasizes the long-term commitment to a joint successful future,” said Dieter Zetsche, who serves as both CEO of Daimler AG and its Mercedes-Benz brand.

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Ford, Daimler and Nissan form Fuel Cell Alliance

Move comes days after BMW and Toyota team up on the technology.

by on Jan.28, 2013

Mercedes-Benz has begun marketing its hydrogen-powered F-Cell in Southern California.

Ford, Daimler and Nissan will now team up in a push to bring hydrogen fuel cell technology to market as early as 2017, the makers have announced.

They collectively hope to produce as many as 100,000 fuel-cell vehicles, or FCVs, they revealed during a news conference in Nabern, Germany. Super-clean fuel cells could serve as an alternative to the battery-electric technology all four of the makers have been trying to sell to a so-far skeptical market.

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“This technology has the biggest potential for emission- free driving,” said Dr. Thomas Weber, Daimler’s technology chief. “This cooperation gives us the opportunity to bind together the know-how of three experienced partners” to enable commercial production of cars running on the powering system.

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