Archion’s leadership team is in place. The company was created from a merger Toyota-Daughter Hino and the DaimlerTruck subsidiary Mitsubishi Fuso wants to shake up the Asian commercial vehicle market from next year. Among the almost 20 names in the management board, one in particular stands out: Franziska Cusumano (35) at the helm of Mitsubishi Fuso follows Karl Deppen (59), who in turn moves to the head position of Archion. The manager continues her steep rise with the new job.
Cusumano has been responsible so far the special vehicle division of Daimler Truck
and drove the arms business there. In her old position, she worked one level below Mercedes truck boss Achim Puchert (46). She has long been considered a candidate for board positions and was recently considered for top jobs at Mercedes-Benz Cars. Deppen made a very conscious decision to work for Cusumano, they say: At Archion, different corporate cultures collide, Cusumano has international experience and empathy, that’s a good fit.
Cusumano has already proven her skills: She started her career in 2008 at Daimler in the foundry business, first in Mannheim and then in South Africa. After various positions in operations and product management, her career took off. Martin Daum (65), then boss of Daimler Truck, hired her as executive assistant in 2017.
At that time, Daimler’s plan was to split off trucks from cars and the Stuttgart group became two independent, listed companies. Now Cusumano is working in the other direction: With Archion, Hino and Mitsubishi Fuso want to significantly reduce costs, and they also want to actively work together in the areas of development, procurement, production and logistics. If this succeeds, further doors will probably be open to Cusumano at Daimler.