Automotive News
December 7, 2015 - 12:01 am ET
Dieter Zetsche, whose contract as Daimler AG CEO expires at the end of next year, told German women's magazine Bunte he would like to see a woman replace him.
"I would find it fantastic if it works out," he said.
The problem is that there are currently no females in a position to ascend to the top job at Daimler.
The company does have one woman on the board of management, but not for long. Former judge Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt has been responsible for integrity and legal affairs since 2011, but scandal-ridden Volkswagen recently created the same board position and hired Hohmann-Dennhardt to fill the job starting Jan. 1.
The matter of who succeeds Zetsche, 62, may not come up for a while anyway because his contract could be extended.
Zetsche also told Bunte, a glossy mag not unlike Cosmopolitan, that female customers have not had "a sufficiently important role" in the company. He said his goal is to make Mercedes-Benz the most attractive premium car brand for women by 2020.
And he took the opportunity to praise the way women operate behind the wheel.
"To my mind, women are the more prudent car drivers. After all, around 80 percent of the perpetrators of traffic violations are men."
Zetsche said Daimler prefers to let female employees drive new cars off the production line because fewer of them get damaged.