Schmueckle Quits Daimler After Losing Mercedes Job
Former Mercedes-Benz COO Rainer Schmueckle
Pankaj Nangia/Bloomberg
Before overseeing production and purchasing at Mercedes, Rainer Schmueckle, seen here, led a turnaround at Daimler’s Freightliner U.S. heavy-trucks unit.
Before overseeing production and purchasing at Mercedes, Rainer Schmueckle, seen here, led a turnaround at Daimler’s Freightliner U.S. heavy-trucks unit. Photographer: Pankaj Nangia/Bloomberg
Rainer Schmueckle, who lost his position overseeing Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz Cars unit to Wolfgang Bernhard, has left the automaker “by mutual agreement,” spokeswoman Ute Wueest von Vellberg said.
Schmueckle, 50, departed to take on “new challenges,” Wueest von Vellberg said today in a phone interview from Stuttgart. Bernhard, who rejoined Daimler in 2009 after a four- year absence, was appointed to oversee Mercedes’ production and procurement in February, taking over responsibilities from Schmueckle, who was the unit’s chief operating officer.
Dieter Zetsche, Daimler’s chief executive officer and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, has shuffled management at the world’s second-largest maker of luxury cars, which has fallen behind Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and is under pressure from Volkswagen AG’s Audi. Joachim Schmidt replaced Klaus Maier as Mercedes’ sales and marketing chief in October 2009.
Daimler said in February it was in unspecified “discussions” with Schmueckle. The executive, who left the manufacturer on June 30, couldn’t be reached for comment, Daimler said today.
Before overseeing production and purchasing at Mercedes, Schmueckle led a turnaround at Daimler’s Freightliner U.S. heavy-trucks unit. He had worked at Daimler for 26 years.
“Daimler thanks Mr. Schmueckle for his many years of successful service and major contributions to the company’s development, and it wishes him every success in the future,” Wueest von Vellberg said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Reiter in Berlin at creiter2@bloomberg.net
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