German carmaker Daimler AG announced yesterday that it would post a “significant” loss for the first quarter.
Daimler cited declining truck sales in Europe and the U.S. as the primary reasons for its poor first-quarter performance. While Daimler still maintains a 19% stake in Chrysler, it had written down the value of that investment to zero last year.
Daimler’s assessment of the global economy indicates that a recovery will not begin until the second half of 2009, at the earliest.
What’s interesting about this is that the global recession has not been as acute in Germany as in other nations, yet Daimler still is suffering mightily. I take this news as a particularly bad one for the global automotive industry.
True, Germany hasn’t been as hard-hit as other countries, but truck sales have taken a beating worldwide.