Daimler Faces New German Probe in Accident

By CHRISTOPH RAUWALD

Daimler AG and Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche were Friday facing a new probe into the death of a company engineer on a test track last year, but Daimler said it expects the company and CEO to be cleared.

A Daimler spokeswoman said the investigation by a German public prosecutors office was "a pure formality." In Germany, a prosecutor is obliged to look at any allegations of serious wrongdoing. A German media report said the new probe was at the request of the dead engineer's family.

"We firmly expect Mr. Zetsche to be cleared from these allegations," the Daimler spokeswoman said. The public prosecutor's office wasn't immediately available for comment.

In July, a separate probe by another prosecutors' office into the same accident ended with a German district court and public prosecutors finding the company and Mr. Zetsche not guilty of any wrongdoing. Instead it found that a driver of one of the vehicles in the accident was solely responsible, a Daimler spokeswoman said.

The Daimler engineer had been sitting in a second vehicle involved in the crash. Mr. Zetsche himself was not involved in the accident but was being probed because he is the CEO of the company.

Source;

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903927204576574672468850748.html

Daimler and Honda most likely for fuel cells

Boulder, Colorado – Daimler and Honda are most likely to bring light-duty fuel cell vehicles (FCV) to market, according to a new report by Pike Research. The study found that several of the major global automakers have aggressive programs to develop a commercial FCV as part of their suite of sustainable vehicles, while others have pulled back and a few new players have entered the arena.



“Automakers will continue to refine their products between now and the 2014/2015 deadline for commercial launch,” said senior analyst Lisa Jerram. “In order to meet this target, the OEMs must continue to test and refine their fuel cell systems as well as the vehicle integration and optimization. They will also be focused on driving down vehicle costs.”



Jerram said that Daimler attained the highest overall score in the report as it has laid out a clear path to producing a commercially viable FCV. Other contributing factors include its strong relationships with infrastructure and government partners, and its recent announcement to partner with Linde on infrastructure development, but it has made ambitious announcements on fuel cell technology readiness in the past that did not come to fruition.



Honda is the runner-up in the study based on the high-quality execution of its Clarity FCV, its efforts to lay the groundwork for a commercial launch and its continued public commitment to FCV commercialization, although Pike noted the Clarity’s slow rollout.



Source;

http://www.autos.ca/general-news/daimler-and-honda-most-likely-for-fuel-cells