DaimlerChrysler, the troubled German-American car maker, defied convention by pricing its $6.46bn (€6.89bn) jumbo bond sale in relation to credit derivatives rather than its own outstanding debt.

The company sold $4bn worth of bonds denominated in dollars. It also sold €2.75bn worth of three-year bonds and £350m (€555m) five-year securities. Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and Schroder Salomon Smith Barney managed the sale.