German carmaker Daimler stunned investors with a profit warning on July 24, sending company shares into a nosedive and illustrating the dramatic changes forced on the auto industry by high fuel prices and a cooling world economy.
Shares of the maker of Mercedes-Benz cars and trucks plunged more than 10% in Frankfurt after the company revised its profit outlook. Operating profit for the year will be more than $11 billion instead of the $12 billion-plus forecast earlier, the company said. "The going has gotten tougher," Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche told analysts and reporters on a conference call. "We can no longer completely compensate." Daimler also reported a 2% decline in operating profit for the second quarter, to $3.2 billion. Sales rose 6%, to $40 billion.