DaimlerChrysler CEO sees good years ahead: paper

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - DaimlerChrysler DCXGn.DE is looking towards a rosy future after the sale of its U.S. arm Chrysler, the car maker's chief executive told a German newspaper.

"The coming years are going to be good," Dieter Zetsche was quoted in Germany's daily Der Tagesspiegel in an article to be published on Monday.

DaimlerChrysler announced in May it would sell an 80.1-percent stake in Chrysler Group to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management CBS.UL, unwinding the 1998 merger of Daimler-Benz and Chrysler that never worked out as planned.

Zetsche pointed out that the risk of being taken over by a financial investor was much lower after the sale.

"The risk of others influencing the company ... is today clearly lower," Zetsche said. "A year ago the company was worth less than 35 billion euros ($47.09 billion), today it's about 70 billion euros," he added.

Zetsche also said the company would do more to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. "We still want to accelerate progress," he said.

In March, BMW (BMWG.DE) and DaimlerChrysler agreed to co-develop hybrid transmission systems for rear-wheel-drive premium cars.

But "at the moment there were no plans" for further cooperation between the two car makers, Mercedes' head of sales and marketing, Klaus Maier, told Handelsblatt in an advanced copy of an article to be published on Monday.