German automaker Daimler is on track to spin off later this year from Daimler Truck, the world's leading truck and bus producer, its finance chief said on Sunday.
"We are on schedule with detailed preparations for this complex project and we want Daimler Truck to be listed on the stock exchange as an independent company by the end of this year," CFO Harald Wilhelm told the weekly Automobilwoche.
"We are convinced of the industrial logic and benefits of the planned restructuring of Daimler and the spin-off of Daimler Truck."
A Daimler spokesman said Sunday that the company had no further comment on the report.
The plan, announced in February, aims to increase Daimler's investor appeal as a business more focused on luxury electric cars, as the Mercedes-Benz brand challenges Tesla, Porsche, BMW and other firms.
LBBW analyst Frank Biller told the magazine that Daimler Truck could join the German DAX index of selective companies next March.
In the truck market, Daimler faces traditional rivals such as AB Volvo of Sweden, the Volkswagen unit AG Traton and Paccar Inc.
