Daimler CFO plans no large buys for now

Reuters (Frankfurt) - German carmaker Daimler is not looking to make any large purchases for the time being and is also not planning to venture into new business areas after buying into engine-maker Tognum , its CFO said.

"At the moment we are not planning any major takeovers," Daimler's finance chief Bodo Uebber told Boersen-Zeitung in an interview published on Saturday, adding that the company was well-positioned in regard to mergers and acquisitions as well as cooperating with other groups.

"We... believe the stakes (we hold) are currently completely sufficient to reach the goals attached to them," Uebber said, adding that the group and Renault-Nissan were ahead of schedule in driving forward their alliance projects.

Daimler owns a 3.1 percent stake in both the French carmaker and its Japanese partner, while also holding an 11-percent stake in Russian truckmaker Kamaz .

In addition, Daimler plans to supply engines this year to Nissan's Infiniti brand, and Uebber said the two companies were in talks about batteries as well.

"We are discussing further options to cooperate...we are debating a deeper collaboration on compact cars," Uebber said.

Daimler took over Tognum, a maker of industrial-size diesel engines, with UK aero-engine group Rolls Royce earlier this year.

Uebber said Daimler was not planning to expand its product portfolio any further outside of its traditional business.

He reaffirmed management's comments from earlier in the year that talks to purchase Fiat Industrial -- which would have given Daimler control over agricultural machinery maker Case-New Holland -- collapsed above all over the price.

Additionally, Uebber said Daimler may consider using part of its industrial net cash position of 12.4 billion euros to plug a 3 billion euro hole in its pension debt.