Doctor No

28 September 2020 By Christopher Thompson Follow @CGAThompson

Ex-CEO Dieter Zetsche is not taking charge of the $55 bln Mercedes maker’s supervisory board. That’s a rare win for critical shareholders. Still, the company’s plans to almost double its share of battery cars are behind rival BMW. Daimler could use an outsider at the wheel.

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Investors welcomed former Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche's decision to forego his role as chairman of the German carmaker’s supervisory board, Reuters reported on Sept. 27.

Zetsche, 67, a former head of the Mercedes-Benz brand, was due to take a seat as chairman of the board of directors at the Stuttgart-based company after a two-year cooling off period. But in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung published on Sept. 27 he announced that he would renounce his position, breaking a decades old practice among German companies of promoting former executives to the supervisory board.

"This enables Daimler to reorient itself under new management, a step which from our point of view is necessary," Michael Muders, a fund manager at Germany's Union Investment, told Reuters.

Manfred Bischoff, Daimler's current chairman, must now find a new successor candidate before he retires on March 31, 2021.

Daimler shares rose by 3.1% to 45.65 euros by 0835 GMT on Sept. 28.

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