Frankfurt

GERMAN luxury car manufacturer Daimler AG raised its forecasts on Wednesday, predicting a significant rise in operating profit this year after a surge in sales of Mercedes-Benz luxury cars and sports utility vehicles, boosted by the launch of new models.

Daimler said it now expected significant growth in volume sales, revenue and group Ebit (earnings before interest and taxes) this year after its first-quarter net profit doubled to 2.8 billion euros (S$4.26 billion).