Mercedes sacks U.S. boss Ernst Lieb

Mercedes boss Ernst Lieb let go

In a surprising move, Mercedes has upset its apple cart in America by sacking its CEO, Ernst Lieb.

It’s hard to work out why Leib has been given the heave-ho, especially considering Mercedes USA is riding high at the moment on the back of strong sales and well-received models in the U.S.

Under Lieb’s leadership Mercedes has enjoyed sales up 10.4 per cent for this year, a performance that is outstripping the market as a whole. Not only that, but Mercedes has overtaken Lexus as the most popular luxury brand in the US.

Lieb is a Mercedes man through and through, having been with the company since 1976 when he was just 21 years old. Apart from his stint as head of Mercedes in the US, Lieb also headed up Mercedes in Canada and was head of the Daimler-Chrysler Australian and Pacific Operations.

The terse statement from Mercedes gives nothing away, simply stating:

Ernst Lieb has been excused from his duties as CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA), effective immediately. Daily business operations of MBUSA will be conducted by Herbert Werner (CFO and Vice President Finance, Controlling & IT) until further notice.

The fact that Herbert Werner has been put in charge temporarily seems to make it clear that the removal of Ernst Lieb was far from planned.

What did he do?

Source: Detroit Bureau

By Cars UK