Mitsubishi aid dropped, shares surge

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Friday, April 23, 2004 | 9:37 a.m.

STUTTGART, Germany -- Shares of DaimlerChrysler AG, the world's fifth-biggest automaker, surged as the German company abandoned a $6.4 billion rescue of Mitsubishi Motors Corp.

The stock rose as much as 9.1 percent after Chief Financial Officer Manfred Gentz said on a conference call the bailout plan was "not sufficient" to return the Japanese automaker to profit. Andreas Renschler, tapped April 5 to head Mitsubishi, won't move to Japan, the Stuttgart, Germany-based company said.

Shares of DaimlerChrysler rose as much as 3.27 euros, the biggest percentage gain since June 2002, to 39.36 euros and were up 6.2 percent at 3:58 p.m. in Frankfurt. The U.S. shares of the of the German carmaker rose $2.12, or 4.9 percent, to $45.36 at 9:58 a.m. in New York.