Daimler sees worsening U.S. truck market

DaimlerChrysler has reduced its forecast for the North American truck market to 150,000 units this year from the 170,000 it forecast last year, the head of the truck division was quoted on Wednesday as saying. Eckhard Cordes told Handelsblatt newspaper that despite the reduced forecast, the company's troubled U.S. unit Freightliner was on course to recovery. He said no additional restructuring measures would be needed.DaimlerChrysler admitted Wednesday it would miss its 2002 profit targets and slashed its dividend for the first time since the 1998 merger of Germany's Daimler and U.S. Chrysler. The company posted a sharply lower 2001 profit and said it would cut its dividend to one euro per share from 2.35 euros, compared with expectations of around 1.5 euros.It said it could no longer meet a profit target of 5.5 billion-6.5 billion euros ($4.80-5.67 billion) in 2002, set almost a year ago, due to worsening market conditions.