- Jason Hoff, currently Head of Production SUV/Sports Cars and President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI), will be the new Head of Quality Management at Mercedes-Benz Cars worldwide, effective on July 1, 2019.
- Michael Göbel, currently Head of Compact Cars Production Mercedes-Benz Cars, will become head of production SUV/Sports Cars and President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI) effective on July 1, 2019.
- Elke Pußkeiler, currently Head for Program-, Capacity Planning and Methods Mercedes-Benz Cars, will become Head of Compact Cars Production Mercedes-Benz Cars, effective on March 1, 2019.
- Florian Hohenwarter, currently Head of Production Precomponents Casting/Forging & Chassis within the powertrain production network of Mercedes-Benz Cars, will become Head of Production S-, E-and C-Class Mercedes-Benz Cars, effective on April 1, 2019.
- Georges Massing, currently responsible for User Interaction & Software, will become Head of CASE Management of the area Digital Vehicle & Mobility, effective on 1 March 2019.
- Ingo Ettischer, currently Head of Production and the Mercedes-Benz Wörth plant, will take over the role as new Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans Operations on March 1, 2019.
Stuttgart – Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans announce changes in the management team:
Personnel changes at Mercedes-Benz Cars
Effective as on July 1, 2019, Jason Hoff will be the new Head of Quality Management Mercedes-Benz Cars, succeeding Jörg Burzer, who will succeed Markus Schäfer as Member of the Divisional Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production and Supply Chain. In his new role, he will remain closely associated with all Mercedes-Benz Cars production plants worldwide. Jason Hoff has been Head of SUV/Sports Cars Production and President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI) since 2013. Previously, he was responsible for procurement of interior components for the Mercedes-Benz C- and E-Class sedan in Stuttgart, Germany. Prior to his assignment in Germany, he held various management positions at MBUSI, including Vice President Logistics and Head of Assembly and Procurement.
Michael Göbel will be the new Head of SUV/Sports Cars Production and President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI), the U.S. production plant of Mercedes-Benz Cars in Tuscaloosa/Alabama, effective July 1, 2019. Thus Göbel returns to his former place of work: At the beginning of 2008, he was the Head of Planning at the Tuscaloosa plant. Göbel began his career at Daimler in 1990 at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Mannheim and moved to Rastatt in 1994. From 1998 to 2007, Michael Göbel held various management positions in production, planning and logistics at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Bremen, Germany, most recently as Head of Assembly. In mid-2014 Michael Göbel took over the management of the global compact car production network of Mercedes-Benz Cars. As President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz U. S. International (MBUSI), Michael Göbel will be responsible for the operations of the Mercedes-Benz Tuscaloosa plant in Alabama. At the same time, he is the local representative of Daimler and thus the face of the company in the region. In his new position, he will continue to develop the Tuscaloosa site and make it fit for the future, leveraging his many years of production and management experience.
Elke Pußkeiler will become Head the global Compact Car production network of Mercedes-Benz Cars, effective on July 1, 2019. Since May 2014, Elke Pußkeiler has been Center Manager for Program-, Capacity Planning and Methods at Mercedes-Benz Cars. She also manages the establishment of the new center. In her new function, she succeeds Michael Göbel. She began her career at Daimler in 1992, as product controller at the Sindelfingen plant, in Germany. This was followed by various management positions in project and controlling before she moved to production in 2005. Two years later, she took over the management of program planning and production control at the Sindelfingen plant and subsequently headed seat production and final engine assembly.
Florian Hohenwarter, currently Center Manager for Production Precomponents Casting/Forging & Chassis within the powertrain production network of Mercedes-Benz Cars, will become Head of Production S-, E-and C-Class Mercedes-Benz Cars, effective April 1, 2019. After his electrical engineering studies in 1999, Florian Hohenwarter started his career as a quality engineer at Daimler, and moved to procurement in 2001 for various functions. He subsequently took over the management of the Quality Engineering Center in combination with the supplier recourse Mercedes-Benz Cars, in 2008. From 2011 on, he was responsible for the BBAC (Beijing Benz Automotive Company) localization project lead and afterwards the person in charge for the development of the GRC platform management, at the Beijing site. From 2013, he led the plant logistics BBAC in China. In the end of 2015, Florian Hohenwarter returned to Sindelfingen to take full responsibility for the supply chain of the S- and E-class. He has been managing the production network for cast – and forged components and axles at the main locations Mettingen (Germany), Maribor (Slovenia) and Most (Czechia), since 2018.
“I am delighted that we were able to win Elke Pußkeiler, Michael Göbel, Jason Hoff and Florian Hohenwarter for these demanding tasks of our highly flexible organization Mercedes-Benz Cars Operations. I would like to welcome them in their new functions and wish them much success in the future functions,” says Markus Schäfer, Member of the Divisional Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production and Supply Chain.
Change in management at CASE
Georges Massing, responsible for the “User Interaction & Software” Center Management in Research and Development, will take over as Head of the Department “Digital Vehicle & Mobility” on March 1, 2019. Until this date, Sajjad Khan, Member of the Divisional Board of Mercedes-Benz Cars for CASE and Head of Digital Vehicle & Mobility, will continue to perform this task in simultaneously. Georges Massing began his career in 2001 at the international trainee program of the DaimlerChrysler AG. From 2002 to 2007, he operated in various positions within the procurement and the model series A- and B-Class. In 2007, he moved to the company Magna and managed the power systems EV/hybrid vehicles and light systems in various management positions. He also headed the global advance development at Magna. At the beginning of 2015, he moved to BMW AG in Munich, and was responsible for the development dimensions for haptic controls and interior lights. Since 2016, Georges Massing has been responsible for the management of the “User Interaction & Software” center at Daimler AG and was thus essentially participated in the successful development of user experience. With an attractive product range and record sales, Daimler operates from a position of strength. The new focus on CASE makes products and the group fit for the transformation from an automotive manufacturer to a mobility provider. The goal is to design intuitive mobility for the customers by intelligently dovetailing the CASE topics. With the four CASE topics – Connectivity, Autonomous driving, Shared & Services and E-mobility – – as an integral part of our corporate strategy, Daimler is generating additional synergy effects, greater speed, and greater penetration power across the whole Group.
“With Georges Massing we have succeeded in an excellent occupation and we are happy to welcome him in his new function effective from March 1, 2019. I wish him all the best in taking over the new tasks,” says Sajjad Khan, Member of the Divisional Board of Mercedes-Benz Cars for CASE and Head of Digital Vehicle & Mobility.
Change in management at Mercedes-Benz Vans Operations
Dr Ingo Ettischer to become new Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans Operations on March 1, 2019. Ingo Ettischer is currently Head of Production and the Wörth plant at Mercedes-Benz Trucks in the Daimler Trucks Division. He follows in the footsteps of Frank Klein, who has been in this function since April 2014 after various roles in the Group and is now leaving the company at his own request.
“I am delighted to have gained an experienced operations colleague as a new Member of Management at Mercedes-Benz Vans in the form of Ingo Ettischer, and I wish him all the best and lots of success in his new role,” commented Wilfried Porth, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG responsible for Personnel and Labour Director, Mercedes-Benz Vans.
“I would like to thank Frank Klein for his commitment as Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans Operations and I wish him all the best for his future outside the Group,” Porth continued.
Ingo Ettischer began his career in August 2002 at the then DaimlerChrysler AG as Centre Head for Quality Management at the Mercedes-Benz Berlin plant. After various management roles, including in C-Class Assembly Logistics and E-Class Production, in 2008 he took over as Head of C-Class Assembly at the Mercedes-Benz Sindelfingen plant. Following various posts in E-Class Assembly Management and in Assembly and Logistics Planning in Sindelfingen, in 2015 he moved to the Daimler Trucks Division and took over as Head of Production. In 2017, he became Head of Production and the Mercedes-Benz Wörth plant.
Wilfried Porth added the following comment on the new Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans Operations: “I am very much looking forward to working with Ingo Ettischer. With his many years of experience and expertise in various areas of production he brings with him the requisite know-how to lead the global production activities of Mercedes-Benz Vans successfully.”
The Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans Operations is responsible for all departments contributing to production, such as Manufacturing, Engineering, Logistics and Quality Management. Mercedes-Benz Vans has production locations in Germany, Spain, the USA, Argentina and, via co-operation partners, in China and Russia.
Successor of Ingo Ettischer will be decided in due course.