Daimler names its new, non-German CEO from 2019
Ola Källenius will become CEO with the current CEO likely to become chair of the supervisory board in 2021
Frankfurt— On Wednesday, Daimler named Swede Ola Källenius as its next CEO as part of a succession plan, which also seeks to install current CEO Dieter Zetsche as a back-seat driver. Daimler said Källenius will become CEO in 2019 and Zetsche will look to become chair of the supervisory board in 2021, a step that needs to be approved by Daimler's shareholders. “With Dieter Zetsche’s intended appointment as chair of the supervisory board, we are ensuring continuity for the sustained success of Daimler. In Ola Källenius, we are appointing a recognised, internationally experienced and successful Daimler executive," Daimler's current chair Manfred Bischoff said in a statement. Källenius’s appointment marks the first time the Stuttgart-based inventor of the modern automobile will be headed by a non-German CEO. The management change comes as the automotive industry is looking at ways to take on rivals emerging from the tech sector in a race to put smartphone-hailed, self-driving cars on th...
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