Daimler Trucks head gives bleak 2009 outlook

* Sees European market down 30-50 percent in 2009
 
* To cut jobs, investments at truck division
 
* Still aims for expansion in China, India, Russia
 
* Daimler shares down 1.8 percent
 
STUTTGART, Germany, March 20 - The global commercial vehicles market will see another sharp decline this year, and the European market could shrink by up to 50 percent, the head of Daimler Trucks said on Friday.
 
"Not all truckmakers will live to see the end of this crisis," Daimler Trucks chief Andreas Renschler told a news conference.
 
Renschler said he expected the European market to decline between 30 and 50 percent this year.
 
"The tendency is more towards 50 percent," he said.
 
He expects the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, region to fall 30 percent and Japan 40 percent, he added.
 
In reaction to the downturn, Daimler will cut jobs and investments at its truck division -- the world's largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles -- and aims for savings of more than 1 billion euros ($1.37 billion) in two years, he said.
 
Staff at Daimler Trucks recently said the division would cut working hours at its German sites to better align production with the sharp fall in demand.
 
But Daimler will still continue to drive expansion in growth markets such as China, India and Russia, he said.
 
Daimler shares were down 1.8 percent at 21.33 euros at 1327 GMT, underperforming a 0.4 percent gain in Germany's blue-chip DAX index.
 
After declining by 76 percent in January, new orders from abroad for German-made trucks weighing 6 tonnes and more collapsed 95 percent in February, according to data from the German automotive industry association VDA.
 
Earlier on Friday, J.P. Morgan forecast European truck volumes would halve this year in the worst downturn for the sector since World War Two.
 
It downgraded Volvo AB to "underweight" from "neutral" as well as cut its price targets for Scania and MAN, in both of which Volkswagen is the controlling shareholder. (Reporting by Hendrik Sackmann, editing by Will Waterman)

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