Posted on Mon, Jan. 09, 2006
Associated Press FRANKFURT, Germany - DaimlerChrysler AG has no plans to sell its Smart AG unit, a spokesman for the compact carmaker said Monday, following a report that the German-American automaker's chief executive indicated it was sounding out offers.
The Financial Times Deutschland daily said Zetsche, who took over DaimlerChrysler at the beginning of the year, told it the company was directing anyone interested in Smart to its adviser.
"We have asked interested parties to contact Goldman Sachs," he was quoted as saying.
But Smart spokesman Heinz Gottwick said that, while Smart remains interested in forging partnerships with other automakers, the company was not being shopped around.
"To sell Smart is no topic for us," he said Monday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Gottwick said there was no plan to sell Smart, and officials hoped it would break even by 2007.
A restructuring plan is under way, and "he (Zetsche) does not see any necessity to come up with a Plan B," Gottwick said.
Shares of DaimlerChrysler were up nearly 2.3 percent to euro45.08 (US$54.45) in Frankfurt trading.
Source: Miami Herald
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