Daimler sees 200 million euro hit in 2013 from forex

German carmaker Daimler expects the recent strength in the European single currency could result in an earnings hit of around 200 million euros ($270.8 million) this year, finance chief Bodo Uebber said on Thursday.

"Actually those headwinds are pretty manageable, thanks to the fact that we have already hedged over 70 percent of our dollar exposure for this year," he told reporters.

For next year the company has already built hedges equating to around a third of its dollar exposure.

Daimler booked a positive earnings contribution of 958 million euros in 2012, the lion's share of which stemmed from its Mercedes cars division, thanks to the euro trading as low as $1.20 in late July.

Uebber also said the "timepoint remained open" for an exit from the remaining 7.5 percent stake it holds in European aerospace group EADS .

He aims to achieve a positive free cash flow this year including all potential effects such as M&A investments or pension funding costs.

(Reporting By Christiaan Hetzner)