Mercedes-Benz will earn as much from electric cars as its luxury combustion engine models by the end of this decade, its chief executive said, becoming the first premium German automaker to provide a precise target for the turning point in profits.
Ola Källenius, boss of Mercedes owner Daimler, revealed the timetable after the company announced it would divorce its car arm from its trucks unit in an attempt to ape the soaring market valuation of electric auto pioneer Tesla.
“Our task is to take the healthy business model of today and to prove to ourselves and to the financial markets that we can have healthy returns when we become a dominant electric company,” Källenius told the Financial Times.