Executive Personnel Change: Karl Deppen to succeed Hartmut Schick as Head of Daimler Trucks Asia and President and CEO of MFTBC

・Hartmut Schick to retire from role as Head of DTA, President and CEO of MFTBC
・Karl Deppen to be appointed successor from December 1, 2021

Kawasaki, Japan — Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC; headquarters: Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture; President and CEO: Hartmut Schick), announces that the Supervisory Board and Board of Management of Daimler Truck AG have agreed to appoint Karl Deppen as the successor to Hartmut Schick in the Board of Management of Daimler Truck AG as of December 1, 2021 responsible for the regions Japan and India with their brands FUSO and BharatBenz, as well as Truck China including the Joint-Venture Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive with its Auman brand. Hartmut Schick will retire after 35 years at Daimler on December 31. Karl Deppen will become his successor from December 1, 2021. The decision is subject to shareholder approval at an extraordinary general meeting of Daimler AG.

Kazuo Matsunaga, Chairman of the Board, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation says, “Hartmut Schick, who joined MFTBC as President and CEO in April 2018, has been instrumental in developing products for the next generation of electrified, autonomous, and connected commercial vehicles for Japan and the world. He proved to be a strong and experienced leader during what has been called a period of great change in the automotive industry. He has a deep understanding of Japanese culture and society, and his receptive approach to his work has won him a wide range of admiration not only among employees but also among business people. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to him for his great contribution to the company and I believe that his successor, Karl Deppen will continue to take his achievements to new heights, further pushing Mitsubishi Fuso’s success and contribution to society.”

“I would like to thank Hartmut Schick most sincerely for his outstanding commitment. As Head of Daimler Trucks Asia, he has shaped our commercial vehicle business with his integrative and motivating leadership skills. In addition, Hartmut was an early proponent of zero-emission vehicles,” states Martin Daum, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler Truck AG and member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG. “At the same time, I am delighted to have won Karl Deppen, a highly experienced international manager with strong expertise in the commercial vehicle sector and proven competence in Asia, as his successor.”

Daum continues, “We are already very well positioned in Asia and ready to take the business to the next level: Our goal is to increase profitability and our potential profit contribution to Daimler Truck AG. We see Asia as the region with the greatest growth prospects in the medium term.”

Hartmut Schick joined the research and development department of the former Daimler-Benz AG in 1986 after graduating in mechanical engineering. After changing to passenger car production, Hartmut Schick worked in the marketing department of DASA in Munich from 1990. In 1993, he took over the management of the CEO’s Corporate Office there. Hartmut Schick returned to Stuttgart in 1995 as Head of the Corporate Office of the Chairman of the Board of Daimler-Benz AG. In 1997, he was entrusted with the development of the Mercedes-Benz plant in Juiz de Fora (Brazil) as Head of Production and Logistics. In 1999, he became Chief of Staff of the CEO of DaimlerChrysler. From 2002, he was Head of Global Communications for the Daimler Group and in 2009 took over as Head of the Daimler Buses Division and Chairman of the Board of Management of EvoBus GmbH. Since April 2018, Hartmut Schick has been responsible for the Asian business of Daimler Truck.

Karl Deppen joined the Daimler Group in 1990 and held various management positions in purchasing and logistics until 2007, mostly with a focus on commercial vehicles. His professional career took him to the USA, Turkey and Japan, where he spent several years. In Japan, Karl Deppen was responsible for purchasing and transport logistics at Mitsubishi Fuso. In 2007 he took over strategic project management for the Mercedes-Benz Atego truck. From 2011 to 2014, Karl Deppen was responsible for global management development at Daimler before moving to Beijing as CFO of Daimler Greater China Ltd. He was then responsible for cost controlling at Mercedes-Benz AG. Since May 2020, Karl Deppen has been CEO of Mercedes-Benz do Brazil Ltda. and responsible for the Latin America region of Mercedes-Benz Trucks and Buses.

MFTBC at a Glance

Based in Kawasaki, Japan, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) is one of Asia’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturers, with 89.29% of its shares owned by Daimler Truck AG and 10.71% by various Mitsubishi group companies. An icon in the Japanese commercial vehicle industry with a longstanding history of more than 85 years with its FUSO brand, MFTBC manufactures a range of commercial vehicles including light, medium, and heavy-duty trucks and buses, and industrial engines for over 170 markets worldwide. In 2017, MFTBC introduced the eCanter, the first all-electric light-duty truck in series production in Japan. In 2019, the Super Great – Japan’s first heavy-duty truck fitted with Level 2 Automated Driving Support Technology – followed as a benchmark in the Japanese commercial vehicle market. MFTBC operates under the umbrella of Daimler Trucks Asia, together with its partner organization Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) in India. This strategic unit allows the entities to collaborate on areas such as product development, parts sourcing and production to provide the best value to customers.

Daimler Trucks Asia at a Glance

Daimler Trucks Asia (DTA), under Daimler Truck AG, is an organizational unit that jointly operates Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) – an icon in the Japanese commercial vehicle industry with more than 85 years of history with its FUSO brand – and Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), an up and rising challenger in the Indian market. DTA adopts a strategic business model that allows its group entities to collaborate on product development, production, exports, sourcing and research activity to provide innovative, cutting-edge and best value products to customers. DTA’s vision is “to develop mobility solutions to embrace a better life for people and the planet”, and is aligned with Daimler Trucks’ purpose, “For all who keep the world moving.”