There were higher unit sales in Europe and Latin America of 13% to a record 159,900 vehicles in 2007 buoyed by strong demand for Mercedes Benz Actros.

In addition, the Trucks NAFTA unit sold 119,000 vehicles in 2007, which were less than 187,400 last year.

During the course of the year, Daimler Trucks also ventured into emerging markets and established a joint venture with the Indian Hero Group for the production of light, medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicles for the Indian volume market.

Daimler Trucks models tailored for the Indian market will also be produced.

The division is also considering the development of its own production facilities in Russia.

Daimler Financial Services

Daimler Financial Service division fell to 630 million euro from 807 million euro last year. Expenses involved in the setting up of a financial service organization in the NAFTA region following the transfer of a majority interest in Chrystler affected profits.

Return on equity was at 14.8% in 2007.

Vans, Buses and other segments

EBIT from vans and buses grew to 1.9 billion euro in 2007 from 1.3 billion euro last year and revenue rose 7% year-on-year to 14.1 billion euro.

Mercedes-Benz Vans and Daimler Buses EBIT increased driven by gains involved in the transfer of interest in EADS of 1.5 billion euro.

Mercedes-Benz Vans sold a record 289,100 units worldwide in 2007. Worldwide sales of the Sprinter vans were at 184,300 units from 157,200 last year.

Daimler Buses sold 39,000 complete vehicles and chassis worldwide in 2007.