R&D 'key to Daimler growth'

Daimler AG, the world's second-biggest maker of luxury cars, said it will maintain spending on new models and technology at 4.4 billion euros after ring fencing its research budget from a wave of cost cuts as the global recession wipes out auto sales.

"Without new products an automaker is nothing," Thomas Weber (left), Daimler's head of development, said in an interview at the Geneva International Motor Show. "We came to the clear commitment to keep all product-related spending."

Daimler is focusing its research budget on leaner engines, fuel cells and safety technology such as a system in the new Mercedes E-Class model that automatically applies the brakes to avoid accidents. While continuing to fund new projects, the R&D department will seek to save money by putting off office renovations, reducing spending on computers and delaying the opening of a test facility in South Africa, Weber said.