Daimler CEO admits was too optimistic for 2008

Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes Benz, introduces the new MY2010 E-Class car during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan January 10, 2009.

DETROIT (Reuters) - Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche said on Sunday the German automaker was too optimistic about the outlook for the fourth quarter when it lowered in October its earnings guidance for 2008 for the second time.

"The environment changed for the negative, actually even more so than we expected in our last public statements," Zetsche told reporters at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

"Within this difficult market environment, sales-wise we did relatively well," he added.

Asked whether Daimler achieved its operating profit target, Zetsche said only that markets deteriorated more than Daimler anticipated in its last public forecast but he declined to comment further.

Earnings for 2008 are scheduled for release on February 17.

Daimler last guided for operating profit of more than 6 billion euros in the full year ended December 31, when it published nine-month results late in October.

Zetsche said Daimler wanted to sell its remaining 19.9 percent stake in Chrysler to majority owner Cerberus as long as the terms were right.

But he said that apart from some tentative contacts between the two sides no real negotiations had occurred since disagreements emerged between the two in late November.

"We made good progress and then at some point in time it came to some obstacles which were insurmountable and then we informed the public again," he said.

"We will see if the discussions will resume. We are certainly open to that, and when the proposals are reasonable we are willing to close this whole discussion constructively and successfully but I can't forecast if and when this might happen."

Zetsche, who has not ruled out trimming Daimler's work force, suggested that he would act more vigorously than just cutting working hours in order to get control of its fixed costs should demand continue to slump.

"It's clear we will not produce more product than we can sell and we will not use more labor than we need to produce this amount of production," he said.

He said that the current crisis did not put any additional pressure on the company to actively participate in major mergers or acquisitions in the global industry.

"We don't need consolidation," he said, adding that revenue rather than volumes were the deciding factor when it came to having the necessary scale.

Daimler's 99.4 billion euros in sales in 2007 was among the global leaders among automakers.

Zetsche said the company would remain open to ventures that don't affect its brands in the eyes of customers, as well as look for acquisitions in the field of green technology.

In December, Daimler bought a 49-percent stake in Evonik's lithium-ion battery unit and 90 percent of a battery company that will use Li-Tec lithium ion cells.

Zetsche on Saturday said Daimler would roll out at least one new hybrid every year, starting with the 2009 top-of-the-line S400 BlueHybrid executive sedan.

The Mercedes S400 BlueHybrid, which is scheduled to be available this year, is on track to be the first mainstream hybrid car to use a lithium-ion battery pack.

(Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner; Editing by Peter Bohan and Phil Berlowitz)