Long considered hardcore hybrid skeptics, the Germans who run DaimlerChrysler are now promising every vehicle the company develops in the future will come with a hybrid option.

The pledge was tucked away in the speech DaimlerChrysler chief executive Dieter Zetsche gave at the opening of the company's annual shareholders meeting in Berlin, where questions about the fate of the Chrysler Group were key topics of discussion.

Zetsche was forced several times to defend the company's record on environmental and energy-related issues such as global warming and fuel economy.

One of the most outspoken critical shareholders, Paul Russman, said DaimlerChrysler's management on both sides of the Atlantic had failed for years to take seriously environmental issues such as global warming and instead concentrated on building some of the least efficient vehicles on the market -among them the Dodge Viper and large Mercedes-Benz models with 5.0-liter engines.

The result has left DaimlerChrysler at a serious disadvantage, he said. "Everything is happening too late," said Russman, who noted companies likeToyota have surged ahead in the race to produce fuel-efficient vehicles such as hybrids. "They've been on the shoulder of the road. Their only answer has been mass reductions (of employees) and closing plants," he added. MORE--