Jochen Goetz
The CFO of Daimler Truck died unexpectedly.
Daimler Truck CFO Jochen Goetz is dead. The 52-year-old died in a tragic accident on Saturday, the Stuttgart-based commercial vehicle group announced on Sunday evening. Goetz had been a member of the board for a good two years and a few months later took the truck and bus division, which had been spun off from Daimler, to the stock exchange.
“Jochen Goetz was a Daimler truck with heart and soul,” said CEO Martin Daum. His death was a huge loss, both personally and professionally. “He played a key role in shaping today’s Daimler Truck company and, as CFO, consistently worked to ensure that (it) is more economically successful today than ever before.”
In the past few years, Goetz had ordered a cultural change in the balance sheet for Daimler Trucks. Instead of primarily gaining market share, as in the past, Goetz, in tandem with Daimler truck boss Daum, made sure that the sale of the vehicles was really lucrative. When in doubt, Marge goes before the crowd. And in the cyclical commercial vehicle business, Goetz tried to focus on those criteria that Daimler Truck itself can influence: its own costs.
In Europe and Latin America in particular, savings have been and are still being made since the carmaker Mercedes-Benz was spun off. Goetz was considered level-headed and willing to compromise. He tried not to offend anyone and was considered a down-to-earth manager.
Goetz also maintained an extremely good relationship with employee representatives. Goetz once played handball with Roman Zitzelsberger, the head of IG Metall in Baden-Württemberg. With his 1.96 meters, the left-hander even made it into the southern German selection. Goetz was friends with Michael Brecht, head of the works council at Daimler Trucks and formerly at Mercedes.
“His knowledge of and commitment to the company is unparalleled”
Goetz has spent his entire professional life for more than 36 years in the Daimler Group: from an apprenticeship as an industrial clerk to various finance and controlling functions – mostly in the commercial vehicle division – to the board of directors. As a teenager, he trained as an industrial clerk at Daimler; This was followed by several positions in controlling in large factories such as Wörth, Gaggenau and Mannheim. There were also jobs at the former headquarters in Stuttgart and in the USA.
In 2019, Goetz was then appointed CFO of Daimler Truck. Above all, he is credited with the fact that everything went smoothly with the spin-off from Mercedes and the subsequent IPO of the world’s largest truck manufacturer at the end of 2021. Just last week he had presented the quarterly figures from Daimler Truck. Daimler Truck had recently made noticeable progress in terms of profitability.
“Just a few days ago, he convincingly and confidently presented the successful financial development of ‘his company’ to the Supervisory Board,” said Joe Kaeser, Chairman of the Supervisory Board. “His knowledge of and commitment to the company is unparalleled.”
With information from Reuters
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