BERLIN, GERMANY – Affirming its 2012 earnings forecast Daimler AG posted sales increases across its motor vehicle units, including its Daimler Trucks division, which saw first quarter sales of 107,000 units or an increase of 20 percent.  According to Daimler AG CEO Dieter Zetsche in a prepared speech, major contribution to Daimler Trucks’ first quarter success came from Daimler Trucks North America with growth of 41 percent. Fuso also continued its positive development in Japan, while unit sales in Europe and Latin America decreased by 5 percent.  Zetsche said he anticipates the division will post further growth in unit sales in 2012 with the new Actros is likely to gain market share in the euro zone. The opening of a new plant in Chennai, India, will be an important step towards conquering new sales markets, according to Zetsche. As of the third quarter, trucks will be produced specifically for the Indian market under the "BharatBenz" brand. Looking at the near-term, Zetsche said Daimler AG aims for an overall company return on sales of its automotive business of 9 percent; Daimler Trucks have a division target of 8 percent. The company aims to sell over 500,000 trucks in 2015. This year follows Daimler AG’s best year in history. During its 2011 jubilee year, the Daimler Group set records for unit sales, revenue, EBIT, and net profit with total revenues increasing by 9 percent to euro 106.5 billion.