DaimlerChrysler CEO Reports Mercedes-Benz Is On Track

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS, DETROIT MI -- DaimlerChrysler AG CEO Dieter Zetsche on Wednesday said that the automaker's Mercedes car group unit was on track to meet its financial operating target by next year.

"We are well on our way to 7 percent return on revenues next year as promised and I do not consider that hitting the ceiling for a luxury brand," Zetsche told reporters at a news conference in Detroit to announce the U.S. launch of the Smart car.

DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes car group includes the Mercedes-Benz luxury brand as well as the Smart and Maybach lineup.

Zetsche also said the Chrysler group was considering offering employee discounts in the U.S. market and said an announcement on that potential discount program would come before month end.

Zetsche said he still expected Chrysler to clinch a money-saving deal on health care with the United Auto Workers union that would parallel agreements already struck at Ford Motor Co. and General Motors.

"I am very confident that in the very foreseeable future we will have an agreement with the union," he said.