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Ex-CEO backs down: No Zetsche comeback at Daimler

2020-09-27T16:03:03.109Z


When Dieter Zetsche resigned as CEO of Daimler last year, his return to work was already firmly agreed. In 2021 he should become the new chief supervisor at the car manufacturer. But nothing comes of it.


When Dieter Zetsche resigned as CEO of Daimler last year, his return to work was already firmly agreed.

In 2021 he should become the new chief supervisor at the car manufacturer.

But nothing comes of it.

Stuttgart - The planned comeback of ex-CEO

Dieter Zetsche

at the car manufacturer

Daimler

has been smashed.

After ongoing criticism from investors about these plans, the former top manager is backing out - and is thus opening the Stuttgart-based company to search for a new chief supervisor who will replace the outgoing incumbent Manfred Bischoff from 2021.

Zetsche justified his surprising decision in an interview with the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung” by saying that some investors would see him from the start “not as a bearer of hope, but as a burden” - “no, I don't need that”.

Zetsche (67) was CEO of the Swabian automaker from January 2006 to May 2019 before handing over his post to

Ola Källenius

.

However, it was agreed at the time in the management bodies that Zetsche - after a cooling-off phase - should take over the chairmanship of the supervisory board from the now 78-year-old Bischoff in 2021.

+

Dieter Zetsche.

© picture alliance / dpa / Uli Deck

Daimler AG: The group is currently in the red

However, these plans have recently met with increasing criticism from Daimler shareholders.

Among other things, Zetsche is accused of having rested 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

electromobility

.

The current crisis is - apart from the immediate consequences of the corona pandemic - homemade.

Especially since the diesel scandal fell during Zetsche's tenure, which cost Daimler a considerable amount of reputation worldwide and, on top of that, billions for expensive comparisons.

The group is also currently in the

red

, posting a loss of around two billion euros in the second quarter.

Now you should save a lot.

Most recently the shedding of 10,000 to 15,000 jobs was rumored around the world.

The media had even reported up to 30,000 jobs.

The car maker does not give any numbers.

Zetsche said that he had thought for a long time in the summer 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. "

+

The logo of the car manufacturer Daimler.

© Daimler AG

Daimler: Can Joe Kaeser take over the position instead of Zetsche?

With some major investors behind him, he would have expected a good chance of getting the necessary majority in an election at the general meeting.

“But the question is: at what price?

I believe that a vote

against

this company with its

300,000 employees

, which is very important to me, would have burdened me at least for a certain period of time. ”Ultimately, he decided“ that I don't want that, that I do without it ".

Daimler announced that they were taking Zetsche's decision “with great respect”.

Zetsche was reluctant to

answer the question of who could become the new head of the

supervisory board

.

“I'm out of there, I don't have to make any decisions about that.” A spokesman for the car company did not comment either.

Most recently, in the event of a Zetsche withdrawal, there was speculation as to whether the outgoing Siemens boss Joe Kaeser could take on this post.

The 63-year-old is currently a simple member of the Daimler Supervisory Board.

Regardless of the renovation, investors are skeptical as to whether

Daimler turned

into the

electric

lane

too late

.

However, Zetsche does not yet see the fact that US competitor Tesla is worth many times over on the stock exchange as decisive.

“The financial markets are trying to anticipate the future.

And they are of the opinion today that Tesla has a more valuable future than Daimler. ”But he is convinced that the comparison will“ look completely different ”in five to ten years.

List of rubric lists: © picture alliance / dpa / Uli Deck

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-09-27

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