DaimlerChrysler on Sunday denied press reports that it was planning to buy stakes into rival Volkswagen (VW) for possible cross-shareholdings.

"We're not going to buy into Volkswagen, even in the future. The idea is no longer an issue," a Daimler spokesman said on Sunday.

Financial Times reported last week that Germany's top two carmakers, which had been in talks for years, "emerged" to hold stakes in each other.

The spokesman said the two companies had discussed a possible tie-up for years but the talks had come to nothing.

Volkswagen has for years been looking for a stable shareholder who would protect Europe's biggest car maker from a hostile takeover.

Porsche, the German luxury carmaker, announced last week that it seeks to buy up a 20-percent stake in Europe's largest carmaker, with a open purpose to protect the companies' business partnership.

Porsche has already acquired at least 10.3 percent of VW's shares and believes it can reach its target through buying in market and from institutional investors such as hedge funds.

The suggestion that Daimler too, could become a VW shareholder, provoked dismay among many foreign investors who said it represented a return to cosy "German solutions" to economic problems.

Source: Xinhua