DaimlerChrysler optimistic about Smart's future

DAIMLERCHRYSLER’S incoming chief executive and the new head of the Mercedes-BenzCar Group, Dieter Zetsche, has said he is "optimistic" about the future of the company’s loss-making Smart micro-car brand.

Reuters reports that in a memo to Mercedes-Benz staff, Dr Zetsche wrote: "I am extraordinarily optimistic that Mercedes Car Group is on a fast track higher. I am equally optimistic that we will make progress with Smart along the way."The memo, in which Dr Zetsche also expressed confidence in Mercedes staff, was written around the same time German prosecutors were raiding homes and offices of two DaimlerChrysler staff members, looking for evidence of insider trading of DCX shares before Juergen Schrempp announced on July 28 that Dr Zetsche wouldreplace him at the end of this year.