Daimler denies report on Mercedes plans

STUTTGART, Germany, Oct 22, 2002 Reuters reported that DaimlerChrysler AG denied a German magazine report on Tuesday that said the German-U.S. car giant's luxury Mercedes-Benz subsidiary planned to nearly double its unit sales over 10 years.

Germany's Manager magazine said it had seen company planning that said the Mercedes-Benz and smart cars division aimed to sell an extra one million cars a year in a decade's time, up from the 1.23 million it sold last year.

"Of course we have internal planning, but it is not in these dimensions," said a DaimlerChrysler spokesman. He declined to say what the company's plans were.

DaimlerChrysler shares were trading up 1.8 percent at 40.23 euros by 0836 GMT while the European autos index was 1.31 percent higher.

The company reports third-quarter results on Wednesday that are expected to show it has reached its full-year profit goal three months early, according to a Reuters poll of analysts' forecasts.