Andreas Renschler, the man many expected eventually to take over at the helm of Daimler, has left the company suddenly for personal reasons.
Renschler, 55, head of operations at Mercedes-Benz overseeing global production and purchasing, asked to leave with immediate effect according to the automaker.
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A statement issued in Stuttgart said only the departure was by “mutual consent” and “unanimously” approved by Daimler’s supervisory board.
Renschler had been with Daimler for 25 years and, until last year, ran the truck division before swapping jobs with Wolfgang Bernhard.
Renschler was seen as a strong candidate to take over from Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche. His departure comes just as Mercedes is ramping up production of the new generation C-Class, its best-selling model. The car will be produced in four factories globally, including the company’s US plant in Alabama for the first time – a factory Renschler launched in the 1990s.
Zetsche said in a statement: “I very much regret he is leaving the company for personal reasons. He gave our commercial vehicles business a global reach and managed the ramp-up of the new S-Class in an outstanding manner.”
Renschler also implemented efficiency measures at Mercedes-Benz, targeting EUR2bn (US$2.7bn) in savings by the end of this year. Earlier this month, Zetsche said the company was already ahead of target.
Daimler’s statement added that Markus Schaefer, 48, currently responsible for production planning at Mercedes, will assume Renschler’s duties for now.
Renschler had worked for Daimler since 1988, although he did have a short spell with the Volkswagen Group. His departure comes as a surprise given that he was on a short list of internal candidates considered contenders to succeed Zetsche, 60, and has run Daimler since 2006. Zetsche’s contract runs to the end of 2016.
The Wall Street Journal quoted Renschler as saying he decided to leave Daimler for “a lot of reasons,” including the contenders for Zetsche’s job “are all more or less the same age. If Dieter wants to work for six years, I would not be happy to do my job”.
He added he was leaving the company for “a different perspective.”
