Daimler chief sees premium car demand beating total auto market

Bloomberg News (Berlin) - Daimler AG expects demand for luxury cars to climb at a faster pace than the broader automotive market in the next decade as the industry continues to outperform the global economy.

The maker of Mercedes-Benz vehicles also plans to ramp up plans for fuel-cell powered cars, aiming to produce versions of its B-class model on a large scale in 2014, a year earlier than initially envisaged, Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche said in a speech at a Mercedes event ahead of the Frankfurt motor show today.

Zetsche expects fuel-cell cars to be priced at the level of hybrid models, which combine convention engines with electric motors, "in the medium term," he said.