Mercedes Following Positive Financials With Aggressive Product Push

Daimler expects year-over-year sales of its Mercedes-Benz vehicles will outpace the 4% jump the German auto maker anticipates in the global market.

Chairman and CEO Dieter Zetsche, who also heads the Mercedes brand, bases his optimism on a new wave of six wide-ranging vehicles.

“Each of them will underscore our claim of offering the best products in every segment,” Zetsche says today from company headquarters in Stuttgart during a webcast to outline Daimler’s 2011’s record-setting financials.

Daimler’s milestone 2011 balance sheet features a best-ever net profit in 2011 of E6 billion ($8 billion), topping the earlier benchmark of E4.7 billion ($6.2 billlion), set in 2010. Revenue also soared to new heights – E106 billion ($141 billion), eclipsing the previous best of E97.8 billion ($130 billion), also set in 2010.

Demand to exceed 2011’s sales totals likely will come from the U.S., Japan and emerging Asian markets as Europe remains paralyzed by economic uncertainty, Zetsche says.

In Mercedes’ global pipeline for 2012:

The A-Class will debut next month at the Geneva auto show, while summer will see the launch of three alternative-powertrain vehicles: the E-400 Hybrid and E-300 BlueTec Hybrid sedans and an all-electric Smart minicar.

The Smart will retail for E16,000 ($21,272), plus tax and a E60 ($80) monthly fee for the vehicle’s battery,  Daimler says today.

Down the road, Mercedes promises 10 new models in an aggressive play that belies a Zetsche comment during last month’s Detroit auto show. He described as “kindergarten games” the jousting with arch-rival BMW, which trumped Mercedes in the 2011 global sales race 1.67 million to 1.38 million.

Total 2011 deliveries of Mercedes, Maybach and Smart vehicles eclipsed 2010’s 1.28 million units, which was Daimler’s previous high-water mark.

The auto maker targets 1.5 million passenger-car sales by 2014, 1.6 million vehicle sales by 2015 and by 2020, “We want to be No.1,” Zetsche says.

By 2015, Mercedes will add to its lineup three compact cars, two midsize cars, one fullsize car, three large cars and one utility vehicle.

“One of these new vehicles will be previewed this coming in April at the Beijing Motor Show: a 4-door coupe based on our front-wheel drive architecture,” Zetsche adds.

“Two other models will follow in the years after that – and all of them are going to be game-changers in the compact and midsize segments. We’ll also be extending our product lineup in the S-Class segment with three additional models.”

The new S-Class range is meant to replace the Maybach lineup. Daimler announced late last year that it will pull the plug on the struggling ultra-luxury brand.

On the production end, Zetsche reiterates plans to build compact cars in China in the next few years.

Daimler’s van business contributed significantly to its 2011 financials. Sales soared 18% to 264,200, generating E9.2 billion ($12.2 billion) in revenue, up from prior-year’s E7.8 billion ($10.4 billion).

The first series-production vehicle to benefit from Daimler’s partnership with Renault-Nissan, the Citan small van, will debut in April, Zetsche says today.

Sprinter large-van production also will launch in Argentina, while there are plans to put “at least” 2,000 electric Vito E-Cell midsize vans on the road by year’s end, he adds.

Zetsche warns 2012’s balance sheet will be compromised by volatile material costs and “substantial investments” to support new products and markets and develop new technologies.

“Although these (investments) will have a positive medium-term effect, they will burden our finances somewhat this year,” he says.

Daimler employees and shareholders will benefit from the auto maker’s 2011 gains. Eligible employees will received bonuses of E4,100 ($5,449) in April, when Daimler’s management and supervisory boards also will propose a dividend of E2.20 ($2.92) per share, up from 2010’s E1.85 ($2.46).

[email protected]