Dieter Zetsche
According to his own statement, the former Daimler CEO asks himself whether he would really be doing the company a service as chairman of the supervisory board.
(Photo: dpa)
Stuttgart Former CEO Dieter Zetsche will not return as planned as head of the supervisory board to the automaker Daimler next year. Zetsche ruled out such a step in an interview with the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung”. “Ultimately, I decided that I didn’t want that, that I would do without it,” said the 67-year-old.
Zetsche was CEO of the Stuttgart-based automaker from January 2006 to May 2019 before handing over his post to Ola Källenius. However, it was agreed in the executive bodies that Zetsche should take over the chairmanship of Manfred Bischoff’s supervisory board in 2021.
However, these plans have recently met with increasing criticism from many Daimler shareholders. Among other things, Zetsche is accused of resting on the records of the past few years at the end of his time as CEO and having missed important decisions, especially for the switch to electric mobility.
The current crisis is – apart from the immediate consequences of the corona pandemic – homemade, they say. In the second quarter, the group had recently made a loss of around two billion euros.
Zetsche now said that in the summer he had long thought about whether his original decision to return to the Daimler Supervisory Board next year was still valid. “Of course I would have liked to have done this job. I also think I would have done it well, “he said, but confessed,” I was wondering if I was really doing the company a service. And whether I will do myself a favor by taking on this task now. ”
That he now – after 40 years of professional life – “would not be seen by some as a bearer of hope, but as a burden – no, I don’t need that”. Zetsche did not comment on the question of who could become the new chairman of the supervisory board instead. “I’m out of that, I don’t have to make any decisions about that.”
More: The car production in Germany is in danger.