FRANKFURT (AP) -- German car and truckmaker Daimler AG said Wednesday it expects a turnaround in the global truck market and an improvement in the truck division's 2010 earnings before interest and taxes.

The truck division hopes to earn euro200 million ($272 million) in EBIT in 2010 from an EBIT loss of euro1 billion in 2009, the Stuttgart-based company said. The 2009 loss was a result of weak demand in the downturn and restructuring charges.

The truck division's 2009 revenue fell 36 percent to euro18.4 billion, Daimler said. For the full year 2009, it sold 259,382 trucks -- a decline of 45 percent.

Daimler is the world's largest truckmaker with brands including Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner and Mitsubishi-Fuso.

While the markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) were also affected by the downturn, some of those markets are starting to show improvement and will contribute to stable growth momentum this year, the company said.

Daimler said it would work at becoming more present in the BRIC markets, suggesting a new partnership or joint venture is not out of the question.

Last week, Daimler Trucks said it would expand its largest truck plant outside of Germany, in Sao Bernardo do Campo, near Sao Paulo, Brazil

In February, the parent company Daimler AG reported it lost euro2.6 billion from all divisions in 2009, compared with a net profit of euro1.4 billion in 2008.

Group revenue fell 20 percent to euro79 billion from euro98 billion. Unit sales dropped 25 percent to 1.6 million cars, trucks, vans and buses, from 2.1 million in 2008.

Shares of Daimler were unchanged at euro32.77 in Frankfurt afternoon trading Wednesday.