Daimler says profits nearly double in first quarter

German auto maker Daimler said today it got off to a good start in 2014 with profits nearly doubling in the first three months.

"We made a good start to this year, as expected," chief executive Dieter Zetsche said in a statement.

"Daimler started the year 2014 with significant growth in unit sales, revenue and earnings," he boasted.

Worldwide sales rose by 13% to 565,800 cars in the period from January to March.

"Despite unfavourable exchange rate developments, revenue increased by 13% to 29.5 billion euros ($40.7 billion)."

Group EBIT -- or underlying profit -- rose to 1.787 billion euros from 917 million euros and net profit nearly doubled to 1.086 billion euros from 564 million euros.

Looking ahead to the full year, Daimler said it expected "total unit sales to increase significantly in the year 2014."

That would translate into a "significant" increase in full-year revenues with "above-average growth rates ... anticipated in North America and China."

And "on the basis of the expected market development, the group assumes that its EBIT from the ongoing business will increase significantly in 2014," the car maker said.