Tiriac offloads 49% stake in Mercedes Benz Romania

Daimler AG is thus becoming the sole owner of Mercedes-Benz Romania SRL.

“Mercedez-Benz Romania SRL is now a fully-owned subsidiary of Daimler AG”, company officials said.

After selling the interest in Mercedes-Benz Romania SRL, Tiriac Group is pulling out of the German brand import operations, and will remain active partner in Mercedes-Benz’s distribution and servicing business.

Mercedes-Benz Romania SRL (initially DaimlerChrysler Automotive Romania SRL) started operations in Romania since January 1, 2007 and was a joint venture between Daimler AG (51%) and Tiriac Group (49%).

Mercedes Benz Romania fell into the red in 2008, from a profit margin of 3.7% in 2007. Net loss posted by the company in 2008 exceeds €9 million. In 2007, the company recorded a net profit of €13.4 million.

Mercedes’ turnover stood at €394.7 million, up 8.5% from 2007. In 2008, 7,881 Mercedes-Benz cars were sold in Romania.

Daimler AG with its businesses Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks, Daimler Financial Services, Mercedes-Benz Vans, and Daimler Buses, is a globally leading producer of premium passenger cars and the largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles in the world. The Daimler Financial Services division has a broad offering of financial services relating to automobiles.

The current brand portfolio includes Mercedes-Benz, smart, Mercedes-AMG, Maybach, Freightliner, Mitsubishi Fuso, Sterling, Western Star, Detroit Diesel, Setra, Orion, and Thomas Built Buses.

The company is listed on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt, New York, and Stuttgart. In 2008, the group sold 2.1 million vehicles and employed over 270,000. Last year’s revenues stood at €95.9 billion, while EBIT was €2.7 billion.