The world's No 5 automaker is scheduled to release the news early Friday morning, sources familiar with the situation said. A teleconference is also scheduled with Co-Chairman Robert Eaton.

The popular Stallkamp, the No 2 American behind Eaton, has played a key role melding the German and US Operations since the combination of Daimler-Benz and Chrysler last November. Stallkamp is expected to leave by the end of this year in a move analysts view as bad for the company as it struggles to merge its German and American units.

The DaimlerChrysler supervisory board is scheduled to meetin Frankfurt, Germany, Friday to review the plan to pare back the company's management board to 13 from 17. It is the first major restructuring since the Stuttgart-based automaker was created last year in a $40 billion combination that ignited a global consolidation in the auto industry.

Officials at DaimlerChrysler's Auburn Hills, Mich.headquarters have declined to comment all week on speculation about Stallkamp's resignation and reiterated that policy Thursday. The 53-year-old executive cancelled a scheduled meeting with reporters in Washington D.C. Friday. He was unavailable to comment Thursday.

US Investors drove DaimlerChrysler shares down $4 to anew all-time low of $66.19, following a recommendation from Lehman Brothers that investors buy Ford Motor Co. instead. The sell-off followed declines in Europe, where shares dropped 3.13 percent to 64.68 euros.

The expected departure of Stallkamp, who joined the formerChrysler Corp. in 1980, is regarded as a bad sign by analysts because it means losing his valued expertise.

Also, the move is seen as hurting morale among U.S.Employees, who already fear their supposed "merger of equals" has amounted to a German takeover engineered by Juergen Schrempp, Daimler's aggressive co-chairman.