While Tesla can count Daimler, Toyota Motor and Panasonic among its investors, others are betting against the company.

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The company also said in addition to the public offering, CEO Elon Musk will buy 1.5 million shares at the public offering price, while an affiliate of Daimler AG will buy an additional 644, 475 shares at the same price.

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Peugeot advanced 4.4% after announcing a 10% bump in 1Q 2011 revenue, while Volkswagen is up 3.9% and Daimler gained 3.6%.

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She even still drives an old smart fortwo that she bought back in 2000 while living in Brussels, where she was the head of Daimler for Belgium and Luxembourg.

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Other automotive firms to be hit by the downturn include Germany's Daimler, which has seen North American sales fall, while Italy's Fiat said sales could drop 20% in 2009.

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At their Brussels press conference on Wednesday the heads of Daimler and Renault-Nissan both said they were not splitting the partnership's synergies, while Ghosn added that the deal was not driven by book keeping.

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