Daimler CFO quits after missing out on top job amid revamp

Daimler AG chief financial officer (CFO) Bodo Uebber’s decision to leave the maker of Mercedes-Benz luxury cars marks the first top-level departure after the German manufacturer picked Ola Kallenius as chief executive officer next year.

Uebber, 59, informed supervisory board chairman Manfred Bischoff that “he is not seeking to extend his current appointment,” Daimler said in a statement late Sunday. It didn’t provide a reason for the planned departure. His contract expires in December 2019.

Uebber was seen as a candidate to lead a holding company that bundles the three separate Daimler units. But the supervisory board’s decision last month to give Kallenius, 49, the same dual responsibility that veteran leader, Dieter Zetsche, currently has as CEO and head of the Mercedes-Benz cars unit indicated this scenario was unlikely to materialize. The management change comes at a critical time for the world’s bestselling luxury-car maker and biggest producer of commercial vehicles by revenue. The challenges were evident Monday when Mercedes said September deliveries slumped 8%.

More complex emissions procedures took effect in Europe that month, triggering production bottlenecks that contributed to the decline. Audi was even harder hit, with its worldwide deliveries tumbling 22%.

Uebber has been one of the key architects behind Daimler’s new group structure, which was created to give its cars, trucks and mobility-services units more independence. Shareholders are set to vote on the changes at the annual general meeting in May next year.

“Given his experience, leadership and reputation in the financial community, his departure will be a big loss for Daimler,” Arndt Ellinghorst, a Londonbased analyst at Evercore ISI, said in a note.

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