MBSA chief is off to China
MERCEDES-Benz South Africa (MBSA) chief executive and executive director of manufacturing Arno van der Merwe has been appointed as the president and chief executive of Beijing Benz Automotive (BBAC).
Daimler said yesterday that Andreas Engling would take over the reins from Van der Merwe at MBSA as chief executive and executive director of manufacturing.
Both these appointments will be effective from April 1 next year.
Engling said he was excited about this new opportunity to lead the East London plant further on its path of quality and productivity excellence and looked forward to working collaboratively with all stakeholders of the larger MBSA group of companies.
Van der Merwe has been chief executive and executive director of manufacturing of MBSA since March 2014 and will succeed Peter Schabert, who has been president and chief executive of BBAC since August last year and will be retiring after 31 years at Daimler.
Hubertus Troska, the member of the board of management of Daimler responsible for Daimler Greater China, said China last year became the largest market for Mercedes-Benz cars and Schabert had successfully and continuously increased the capacity, productivity and flexibility of the company’s plant in Beijing.
Markus Schäfer, a member of the divisional board of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production and Supply Chain Management, said Van der Merwe would bring valuable inspiration to the joint venture in China and colleagues in Beijing would benefit from his expertise and knowhow, particularly at a stage when Daimler was further increasing its capacity and flexibility.
Van der Merwe said it was an honour to have been entrusted with such an important role.
“The leadership team at BBAC has created an excellent foundation for growth and I am excited to be part of this ongoing journey of collaboration,” he said.