For Ola Källenius (55) it is an unpleasant déjà vu: When he took over the management of Mercedes-Benz in 2019, the manufacturer of trucks and premium cars was in a real crisis. Thanks to tough cost-cutting measures and sales of more expensive models, Källenius managed to take Mercedes to new heights. He spun off the truck business in 2021. The following year he achieved a record return of 14.6 percent.
But now, in the 2024 financial year, the crisis in the automotive industry has reached Mercedes-Benz again. Källenius had to issue two profit warnings. What follows is pressing the repeat button: another savings program.
Under the heading “Next Level Performance”
An impressive 5 billion euros are expected to be saved by 2027. Half of this should be achieved by the end of 2025, another billion will be cut from the budget in 2026, and another 1.5 billion euros in 2027. Everyone is required – from production to development, sales and administration. This has an impact on the 166,000 employees worldwide. According to the company, around 10 percent of jobs could be eliminated. That would be more than 15,000 jobs.
How could it get that far that Mercedes drove into the crisis again? And what plans to make Ola Källenius to make the manufacturer successful again? In this podcast Margret Hucko, editor of the manager magazine, informs about this in an interview with editor -in -chief Isabell Hülsen.
In the podcast “The Topic”, editor -in -chief Isabell Hülsen provides information about the exclusive knowledge of the editorial team every week on a topic that is decisive for the German economy. You can use the Podcast via Manager-Magazin.de as well as on Spotify
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