At Mercedes topmanager Andreas Renschler has suddenly left the company after having worked there all of his professional life. Renschler used to be the CEO of the truck devision of Mercedes-Benz. During that time Daimler bought a share in Kamaz. There was the launch of Bharat Benz in India and he got a better hold on Fuso. Also in the Renschler era Daimler improved Daimlers truck business in China and the position of Freightliner in the USA was reinforced.
Something else Renschler did was something that nobody before achieved, the launch of a ‘world engine’ that is fit for nearly every country where Daimler sells trucks. Best of all the Mercedes-Benz brand in Europe was hugely succesfull with the new generation of Euro VI trucks, and it still is. .
Some time ago Renschler was promoted to oversee the entire production of the passenger car department of Daimler. Everything pointed in the direction that Daimler CEO Zetsche had plans with Renschler for the top position in the future. So the news that Renschler left Daimler and might be going to Volkswagen was a big surprise for Germany, and especially for Daimler. Officially Renschler is not working for Daimler anymore and his new job is not yet announced. When things like these happen, it’s obvious that for instance Daimler looks to appoint someone else to succeed Zetsche than Renschler, who could not do much more than just leave after he heard about this.
Meanwhile rumours that Renschler is going to Volkswagen are getting stronger. It is clear that something has to be done at the Volkswagen brands Scania and MAN and that is going to start with a new small truck like the Iveco Daily for MAN and Scania. Ex Scania chairman Leif Östling had the task to realise this project. He still works for Volkswagen, while ex Scania manager Martin Lundsted is heading MAN. Rumours now say that Renschler is going to take the position of Leif Östling and his new task is to develop this new small multi-brand truck. After that the next step is the integration of MAN and Scania into the Volkswagen group. Both brands will stay independent but there will be more and more shared components in the future. After Renschler has completed this job, he might be appointed as the successor of Martin Winterkorn, the CEO of Volkswagen.