Daimler loses senior board member
Daimler, the German car and truckmaker, has been rocked by the sudden departure of board member Andreas Renschler, who was considered a possible candidate to succeed chief executive Dieter Zetsche.
Mr Renschler, 55, who in April took of charge of Mercedes-Benz's manufacturing operations and procurement, and who previously led the international expansion of Daimler’s trucks unit, is leaving of his own accord.
A statement, released late on Tuesday said Daimler’s supervisory board agreed unanimously that Mr Renschler be freed from his contract. He will cease working immediately.
Mr Renschler has been a Daimler board member since 2004 and he was considered a possible successor to Mr Zetsche, whose contract runs until 2016.
Mercedes-Benz is midway through a €2bn cost-savings plan designed to help boost the company's margins, which have lagged behind rivals BMW and Audi.
His recent responsibilities also included preparing Mercedes-Benz plants for the launch of its flagship S-Class saloon and the C-Class, its highest volume model.
Mr Zetsche said he “very much regretted” that Mr Renschler was leaving the company for personal reasons. “Andreas Renschler gave our commercial vehicles business a global reach,” he added.
A Daimler spokesman declined to elaborate on the reasons for Mr Renschler’s sudden departure but said they were of a personal nature and did not pertain to operational matters or a dispute at Daimler.
Mr Renschler's Mercedes-Benz production duties will be assumed by Markus Schaefer, currently in charge of production planning at Mercedes-Benz. Wilfried Poth, board member responsible for human resources, will take on Mr Renschler’s other responsibility for the Mercedes-Benz van unit.
Daimler’s fortunes have improved considerably over the past year after a poor start to 2013 characterised by declining profitability and a dispute between labour representatives and members off the management board.
Mr Zetsche’s contract was renewed last February until the end of 2016 but he had been expected to receive a five-year extension. Board member Wolfgang Bernhard, a former McKinsey executive, was forced to swap jobs with the easy-going Mr Renschler, who worker representatives favoured for the manufacturing role.
Since then profits at Mercedes-Benz have recovered due to the launch of new, sporty models. Daimler is due to report full-year earnings on February 7