SPIEGEL: Interview with Dieter Zetsche

[PanterroR]

DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche, 54, discusses his company's green offensive and the German chancellor's climate initiatives, Daimler's future without Chrysler and the strange affinity of environmentally conscious customers for gas-guzzling cars.


Read the whole interview @: http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,505225,00.html

 

[LaArtist]

^wow damn they grilled him hard..
he did good with the answers..
i like this dude..he is very sharp and down to earth..
great for MB

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche, 54, discusses his company's green offensive and the German chancellor's climate initiatives, Daimler's future without Chrysler and the strange affinity of environmentally conscious customers for gas-guzzling cars.


Read the whole interview @: http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,505225,00.html

Thank you. An excellent interview with a very intelligent man.

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

^wow damn they grilled him hard..
he did good with the answers..
i like this dude..he is very sharp and down to earth..
great for MB

Yeah they tried their best. But his responses were extremely astute.

 

[bum-man]

Look at that stache!

 

[LaArtist]

^haha yeah its massive..haha

 

[Deleted member 25]

We are clearly the leader when it comes to the world's cleanest diesel technology, Bluetec, as well as in fuel cell technology.

This statement is based on what ??

 

[bum-man]

This statement is based on what ??

They've been testing the technology for nearly a decade.

 

[Wolfgang]

A Mercedes fuel cell info page is here: http://www.whnet.com/4x4/fuelcell.html

Contributions welcome, as I'm sure I might have missed some stuff.

 

[Deleted member 25]

They've been testing the technology for nearly a decade.

And so what ?

 

[coolraoul]

Mercedes is clearly a leader in the fuel-cell technology, the Necar concept-car were very advanced, they were first to solve the problem of the cold temperature on the fuel-cell, they have 100 A-Class and lots of busses driving around the world in the hands of customers.

Honda is very advanced too. I think only Honda is quite as advanced as Mercedes. Toyota I don't think as much as Merc or Honda.

They will sell fuel-cell B-Class in 2010!!!

 

[Deleted member 25]

Honda will sell its car in 2008, from my point of view they are the leader of fuell cells.

 

[coolraoul]

Don't know the detail differences and technics.

Know that Honda is very advanced too, but may marketing decision with a not very perfectionned fuel-cell? Look at the first Civic IMA, well... It existed, but that's quite all...

Let's say that MB is among the leader then...

But with their fleet of cars and busses, I think they have the biggest fuel-cell fleet in the world actually.

 

[coolraoul]

New interview of Dr. Z with Autozeitung.

Want to have class-leading fuel-economy and performance in the very next future, and second generation fuel-injection petrol engines accross the whole line-up.

Make the diesel as green as the petrol with Bluetec/adBlue, the petrol as economic as diesel with DiesOtto, all this combined with start-stop, mild and full-hybrid, and work hard on the Fuel-cell.

Focus on the premium segment, core-strengths comfort, safety, elegance. Give the C-Class as example.

DiesOtto in 4 years at the earliest,

Fuel-cell at the beginning, won't sell thousands... But plan to sell it more in the first half of next decade.

No new model offensive; maybe one or two new models here and there but nothing dramatic

A and B will maybe (surely) look different. No model under the A-Class.

No new smart model untill it is as unique as the Fortwo. More than 30000 preorders in the States for the Fortwo.


Nothing really new, but interesting.

 

[coolraoul]

Dr. Z has confirmed discussing with Sergio Marcchione about a possible cooperation with Fiat for the future A-Class. Mercedes would create the platform and give it to Fiat also, to achieve higher volumes.

But Mercedes continues to discuss with BMW for the next A-Class.

The discussion is also about the motors alliance with Peugeot and BMW, that Mercedes could enter.

BMW is interested by the rear-engined Smart platform for a new city-model, and also by the electrical no-emission Smart, actually in test in the UK and soon in France too. They would need it because they want to become a Large Vehicule Manufacturer.