Daimler CEO attacks banks for hoarding cash

BERLIN Nov 4 (Reuters) - Daimler (DAIGn.DE) Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche criticised commercial banks for hoarding their cash and contributing directly to a breakdown in major car markets, he said on Tuesday.

"The ECB may have lowered its prime interest rates but the commercial banks do not transfer that liquidity further," he told an automotive industry event in Berlin.

"Banks are behaving like insecure savers: the money is put underneath the pillow at the ECB instead of investing it in the market."

Zetsche said the results were dramatic, citing a statistic that 60 to 80 percent of all car purchases -- without specifying where exactly -- were financed via credit.

"A functioning auto industry requires a functioning financial sector," he said.

He said the bottleneck in credit threatened some 300,000 jobs among German mid-sized suppliers. (Reporting by Jan Schwartz; Editing by Gary Hill)