Daimler : Mercedes-Benz Vans Sales Germany and Europe will form a new sales region under the overall responsibility of Steffen Lucas

• On 1 July 2021, Mercedes-Benz Vans Sales Germany will become part of the Mercedes-Benz Vans Sales Europe under the overall management of Steffen Lucas.
• Jochen Dimter, the current Managing Director of Mercedes-Benz Vans Sales Germany is leaving the company at the end of the year at his own request after more than 34 years in the Group.
• Formation of the new sales organisation as an optimal setup for future topics as well as fast and efficient sales performance.

Stuttgart / Berlin - Mercedes-Benz Vans is combining the German sales organisation with that of the Europe region to form a single, new unit. Steffen Lucas (50) will become the head of the unit. He was previously responsible for sales and marketing in the Europe region and will also simultaneously take over the role of Managing Director at Mercedes-Benz Sales Germany. The previous Managing Director for the German market was Jochen Dimter (59), who is leaving the company at his own request after more than 34 years working in the Group.

'With our strategy, we have set Mercedes-Benz Vans up to optimally face the future challenges of the transport sector. Besides the successive electrification of our entire product portfolio and the sweeping and groundbreaking digitalisation of our business processes, we will be looking not only to adopt a more customer-oriented approach in sales but also to provide future-oriented transport solutions. I am pleased that in Steffen Lucas we have gained an experienced and successful sales professional for the challenging task of fast merging the German and European sales regions. I am sure that he will master this task successfully and timely, and that both regions will benefit from it,' says Marcus Breitschwerdt, Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans. 'With Jochen Dimter leaving the company, we're losing one of the most experienced and commendable sales managers at Mercedes-Benz. In Germany over the past years, Mercedes-Benz Vans has attained and maintained a leading market position, and we have him to thank for a large part of that. I would like to thank Jochen Dimter for his enormous commitment, his tenacity and his active determination in continually driving Mercedes-Benz Vans Germany forward.'

Germany is the biggest single market for Mercedes-Benz Vans. More than a quarter of worldwide sales of vans with the three-pointed star is realised there. In the past years, sales have continuously increased. The most successful six years for sales in the history of Mercedes-Benz Vans Germany was reached since 2015 under Jochen Dimter's leadership. The new regional structure will come into force on 1 July 2021. For three months, Steffen Lucas and Jochen Dimter will work together to implement the change.

'With the new setup, we will work on creating a modern, future-oriented and powerful European sales region. In doing so, we will be in an optimal position to tackle the future topics of electrification, digitalisation, sales transformation and performance,' says Klaus Rehkugler, Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans Sales & Marketing. 'I'd like to thank Jochen Dimter for his many years of successful service to Vans. With his experience, he has managed to keep Mercedes-Benz Vans Germany on a successful course, even during the past year which was an especially challenging one. I wish him all the best for the new phase of his life. At the same time, I'm also pleased that we will continue to work with Steffen Lucas, who has successfully headed up and developed the European sales region over the past few years. I'm therefore sure that with him and his expertise, the merging of the German sales region with that of Europe will go very well.'

The creation of a joint European region will intensify not only the transfer of knowledge between the markets, but will also mean activities can be implemented across multiple markets simultaneously, as well as enabling homogeneous management across country borders and rapid implementation of important sales initiatives. Among these will be the continued digitalisation of sales operations: customers of Mercedes-Benz Vans in Europe will increasingly enjoy a 360° brand experience, as part of which the digital and physical customer journey will fuse into a single entity.

In the future, Mercedes-Benz Vans will adopt an even stronger position as a premium brand for both commercial and private customers, in addition to sharpening its image as a provider of future-oriented transport solutions. Furthermore, the Vans division will follow a strategic aim of strengthening long-term customer relationships through the continued development of products and services which are perfectly adapted to the needs of the customer, thus ensuring an increase in turnover from repeat customers. The merger of both sales regions will also contribute to this.

Curriculum Vitae of Steffen Lucas

Steffen Lucas began his career at Daimler AG in 1997 following his studies in economics at Stuttgart-Hohenheim University. After an initial role in passenger car sales, in 1998 he moved to Berlin as Head of Marketing and PR at Mercedes-Benz CharterWay. From 2000 to 2004, he was in charge of strategy and fundamental questions in the Truck Sales division. Then he took over the role of Head of Sales & Marketing Commercial Vehicles in Luxembourg, where he stayed until 2008. Following on from this, he held the same position in the Czech Republic before changing in 2012 to become Head of Vans Sales in Stuttgart. From 2014 to the present day, Steffen Lucas has worked as Head of Sales & Marketing Region Europe & International Fleet Sales Operations for Mercedes-Benz Vans.

Curriculum Vitae of Jochen Dimter

After studying Business Administration, Jochen Dimter entered the then Mercedes-Benz AG in 1987. He took on various managerial positions, including his role as Manager in business administration at the Mercedes-Benz Nuremberg dealership. From 1995, he worked in various roles at Daimler Financial Services, including becoming the Managing Director of Debis Leasing in Zagreb, Croatia. Between 2002 and 2006, he became Managing Director of Daimler Fleet Management GmbH as well as Director of Fleet Management at Daimler Financial Services AG in Berlin. From 2006 to 2009, he worked as Director of Fleet Management & Remarketing for Mercedes-Benz Sales Germany. He was also Head of the Mercedes-Benz Aachen dealership from 2012 until the end of 2014. Since 2015, he has been working as Head of Vans Sales Germany.