DaimlerChrysler has decided to replace the top executive for sales and marketing at its luxury Mercedes division amid a broader personnel shake-up at the unit following recent declines in sales and profitability, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.
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The automaker is preparing to announce the removal of Joachim Schmidt – currently, head of sales and marketing for Mercedes Car Group – from his post within a matter of days, a person familiar with the matter told the paper.
Schmidt would be the most senior Mercedes official to be removed from his job since the new head of Mercedes, Eckhard Cordes, took office last October, the WSJ noted.
A DaimlerChrysler spokeswoman declined to comment to the Wall Street Journal on Schmidt’s job status – word of the change was first reported over the weekend by the German magazine Der Spiegel, the report noted.
The WSJ said the luxury division of DaimlerChrysler is in a steep profit slide – its operating profit down 47% last year – largely as a result of quality problems with its cars, such as electronics systems that malfunction or don’t operate as customers expect.
The paper said that world-wide sales of Mercedes Car Group vehicles – which include the Mercedes-Benz, Smart and Maybach brands – are down 9% this year, and sales in Germany are down nearly 19%.
The company has publicly blamed the recent sales declines on weak demand in its core European markets and a production slowdown related to a faulty diesel pump, the Wall Street Journal said.
