Daimler, which owns the Mercedes-Benz and Smart brands and is the world leader in heavy trucks, will expand in particular its operations abroad.

"China, India and other heavily populated countries are discovering the automobile," Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche told the popular German daily Bild earlier.

"We have to be there to respond to the demand. But we also need German sites because many motors and parts come from here."

All sectors and all German facilities would be beefed up, the report said.

Daimler was looking to recruit 500 new college graduates, 400 engineers and computer specialists and some 2,000 apprentices.

Like its German rivals BMW, and Volkswagen which owns Audi, Daimler has been a major beneficiary of the rebound in global demand for cars, in particular in the Chinese market.

In January, Mercedes-Benz sold 87 percent more autos in China than during the same month a year earlier.