Hertz Global Holdings Inc. is making a change in leadership following challenges stemming from its investments in electric vehicles. Stephen Scherr, who has been serving as CEO for just over two years, has decided to step down. He will be replaced by Gil West, the former chief operating officer of General Motors Co.’s Cruise Robotaxi unit, effective April 1.
Scherr’s tenure at Hertz coincided with the company’s ambitious foray into electric vehicles, which began shortly after emerging from bankruptcy. Hertz made significant investments in EVs, including placing orders for 100,000 vehicles from Tesla Inc., as part of its strategy to modernise its fleet and capitalise on the growing demand for electric mobility.
However, these bets on EVs did not yield the expected results. Last year, Tesla’s price cuts significantly reduced the resale value of Hertz’s used EVs, leading to challenges related to depreciation and demand. As a result, Hertz announced plans to sell off a substantial portion of its EV fleet, citing lacklustre demand and costly depreciation.
Mercedes-Benz Malaysia (MBM) has announced new executives for two senior positions in the company. They are Sagree Sardien as President & CEO, and Edmin Naidoo as Vice-President of Customer Services. Both of them also have roles in Mercedes-Benz Cars SEA II region, with Mrs. Sardien as the Head.
Mrs. Sardien, from South Africa, takes over from Dr. Claus Weidner who was President & CEO of MBM from 2015. She has over 20 years of experience in the auto industry, of which 13 years have been with Daimler where she started as the Head of Operations in South Africa for Daimler’s Fleet Management division.
During her tenure, she held various leadership positions across the Daimler organisation in Fleet operations, Logistics, Sales, Product management and Customer Services, in South Africa. In 2018, Mrs. Sardien moved to Stuttgart, Germany, where she was the Head of Sales for Region Overseas markets comprising Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Middle East, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa.
She was also responsible for the implementation of the ‘Retail of the Future’ business model in the South African market, transforming the sales environment to Model D between 2016 and 2018, where Mercedes-Benz maintained the No. 1 Premium Brand position in the country.
“I am excited to join the Malaysia and SEA II regional team. In the last few years, Mercedes-Benz has grown from strength to strength in the premium automotive segment in the region. It is an incredible and opportune time to join the company, and I look forward to contributing to the implementation of our ambition to shape the future of mobility and support the transformation of the automotive environment,” said Mrs. Sardien.
Sagree Sadien (left) and Edmin Naidoo
Mr. Naidoo has been with the Mercedes-Benz brand for over 25 years, with experience in the Customer Service retail and wholesale business. Prior to taking on the current role here in Malaysia, he served as the Director Customer Services at Mercedes-Benz Australia Pacific, preceding his 15-year stint at Mercedes-Benz South Africa.
In collaboration with the Customer Service team of Region Overseas, he was also responsible for introducing best practice steering tools, digital KPI dashboards and Customer Services chatbot for retailers, advancing the standards of digital transformation in the region. Naidoo is passionate about introducing digitized concepts to the market, enabling customers and retailers to enjoy the advantages of the Digital Service Drive Transformation.
“We are entering an exciting time where innovation including data at the core allows us to create hyper-personalized ecosystems, where our customers can experience true Mercedes moments that are Best-in-Class. I am excited to join the SEA team to build upon our achievements in shaping the future of service products that offer our customers a Mercedes of Service Experience,” Mr. Naidoo said.
When Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh retired at the end of last year, he said that he would like to spend his time sharing and passing on his experiences and knowledge gained in over 25 years in the auto industry. He served in various roles in UMW Toyota Motor, including establishing and heading the division which handled the Lexus premium brand. After that, he was appointed President & CEO of Perodua, leading it through a period of significant development and growth.
Now, MBM Resources Berhad (MBMR) will benefit from having Datuk Aminar to provide guidance as the new Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors. He takes over from Dato’ Abdul Rahim bin Abd Halim who has been holding the position since 2007 and is retiring from the Board as Directors.
Industry veteran with long ties to Daihatsu
Dato’ Abdul Rahim bin Abdul Halim
Dato’ Abdul Rahim too is a veteran in the auto industry and has an association with the Daihatsu brand going back to 1977 when he was in Med-Bumikar-MARA which imported the 1-litre Daihatsu Charade. He remained with the company, moving up as it evolved into the public-listed Med-Bumikar Mara Sdn. Bhd. Group of Companies (the MBM Group) in 1995.
Datuk Aminar will be involved in Perodua again in his new role as MBMR has the second largest shareholding of 20% in the Malaysian carmaker. MBMR also has a 42% share in Hino Motors (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. Besides handling the Daihatsu brand via subsidiary Daihatsu (Malaysia), it is also involved in the retail business as dealer for the Volvo and Volkswagen brands.
MBMR also expanded into automotive parts manufacturing with the acquisition of wheel manufacturer, Oriental Metal Industries (M) Sdn. Bhd.; and Autoliv Hirotako Sdn. Bhd. and Hirotako Acoustics Sdn. Bhd.
MBMR is the second largest shareholder on Perodua.
Assurance of continuity in leadership
A statement from MBMR regarding the change of leadership gave assurance that, ‘despite the departure of the long-serving and experienced directors and the Chairman, the Board is committed in ensuring continuity and has made several changes in the Board composition to focus on plans and strategies to boost MBMR’s future growth. The restructuring of the committee includes the appointment of the new members in the Audit and Risk Management Committee, Nomination and Remuneration Committee (NRC) and Chairman of MBMR Group.’
