The board of management of Daimler AG announced today, March 16, that effective June 1, Martin Daum will become head of Daimler Trucks North America. Daum, 49, will replace Chris Patterson, who will reach the age of 55 this year and has chosen to retire after 32 years of service to the North American commercial vehicle industry, 11 of them with DTNA. Daum is currently head of operations at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Woerth, Germany.
“Chris Patterson has been crucial to our efforts to set the course for the competitiveness of Daimler Trucks North America with competitive products and a comprehensive efficiency program,” says Andreas Renschler, head of the Daimler Trucks division.
Also effective June 1, Dr. Albert Kirchmann, 52, will become head of Daimler Trucks Asia, in which function he also will be president and chief executive officer of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. He will replace Harald Boelstler, 58, who is to retire effective June 30 after a career of more than 30 years at the Daimler Group, including positions in Germany, Japan and France and four years at Daimler Trucks Asia. Kirchmann is currently head of finance and controlling, business and product planning at Daimler Trucks & Buses.
“Harald Boelstler has posted great achievements with the integration and modernization of Mitsubishi Fuso, as well as with successful growth in the markets,” Renschler says.
Daum has been at the Daimler Group for more than 20 years and has worked in various areas. He started his career in 1987 in the department of sales controlling overseas at the then Daimler-Benz AG. This was followed by various marketing services positions before he moved to the United States, where he held various management positions at Daimler’s commercial vehicles subsidiaries. Upon his return to Germany, Daum became head of commercial vehicles strategy in Stuttgart, where he was responsible for trucks controlling Europe and Latin America, and in 2006 also was made head of the Woerth plant. In parallel, he was head of the Unimog and special vehicles product unit from 2003 onward. In both functions, Daum will be succeeded by Yaris Puersuen, 40, currently head of finance and controlling Europe and Latin America in Woerth.
Kirchmann came to the then Daimler-Benz AG as a trainee in 1984. He subsequently held various positions in the controlling departments of the Woerth and Bremen plants before moving to Mercedes-Benz Spain at the beginning of the 1990s. Following his return to Germany, he became head of strategy and planning powertrain in 1997. He subsequently held other leading positions in the area of finance before he was made head of finance and controlling, business and product planning at Daimler Trucks & Buses in 2006. This position will be taken over by Frank Lindenberg, 45, who is currently head of finance development and operations.
