Dieter Zetsche

Dieter Zetsche
Dieter Zetsche at IAA 2009
Born (1953-05-05) 5 May 1953
Istanbul, Turkey
Residence Stuttgart
Other names Dr. Z (Doctor Zee)
Alma mater University of Karlsruhe,
University of Paderborn
Occupation Chairman of Daimler AG
Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars
Predecessor Jürgen E. Schrempp

Dieter Zetsche (German pronunciation: [̩diːtɐ ˈtsɛtʃə]; born on 5 May 1953 in Istanbul, Turkey) is a German engineer and the Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars since 2006 as well as member of the company's Board since 1998.

Early life and education

Zetsche was born while his father, Herbert Zetsche, a civil engineer, was temporarily in Turkey for a dam construction project. The family returned to Germany in 1956. Dieter Zetsche attended school in Oberursel (near Frankfurt am Main) and studied electrical engineering from 1971 to 1976 at the University of Karlsruhe; he graduated as an engineer. He completed his doctorate in engineering in 1982 at the University of Paderborn.

Career

At Daimler

Zetsche joined Daimler-Benz in 1976, working in the research department. In 1981, he became Assistant Development Manager at the Vehicles business unit. He became a member of DaimlerChrysler's Board of Management in 1998 and served as the President/CEO of Chrysler Group from mid-2000 to 31 December 2005, where he was credited with a turnaround of DCX's American operations. Since 1 January 2006 he succeeded Jürgen Schrempp as Chairman of DaimlerChrysler (now Daimler AG), being succeeded in the position of Chrysler Group CEO by Thomas W. LaSorda.

Zetsche was the main influence behind the demerger of Daimler and Chrysler in 2007, which ended in the newly formed Daimler AG. Following profit warnings in 2012 and 2013, weak sales in China and tensions with Daimler’s powerful labour representatives, his contract was renewed for only three years instead of the expected five.[1] He received €14.4 million in pay and bonuses in 2014, making him the second-highest paid employee at a listed German company.[2] After a record year for car sales and revenue in 2015, Zetsche’s contract was extended to 2019.[3]

Zetsche is credited with bringing significant core changes to the Mercedes-Benz company in an effort to turn around a decade long downward spiral in product quality and customer satisfaction. He was named in Time Magazine's 2006's list of 100 most influential people. On the invitation of the Green Party’s leadership, Zetsche was invited to address the 2016 party conference.[4]

On 26 September 2018, it was announced that Zetsche will step down as the company's CEO in May 2019 to become chairman of Daimler's supervisory board in 2021.[5]

Ask Dr. Z campaign

Chrysler headquarters advertising the website "AskDrZ.com"
Relief Ludwigs Erbe by Peter Lenk, close to Zollhaus and tourist information, Hafenstraße 5, Ludwigshafen am Bodensee, Bodman-Ludwigshafen in Germany: Right-hand part of the triptych, top: Utz Claassen, Dieter Zetsche, Ferdinand Piëch, bottom: Leo Kirch

On 30 June 2006 Chrysler Group announced the Employee Pricing Plus program, which featured Dieter Zetsche as Dr. Z (Doctor Zee[6]), the DaimlerChrysler spokesman for a series of United States and Canadian television commercials,[7][8] also animated in cartoon format on the company's Ask Dr. Z website, which began on 1 July.

The "Ask Dr. Z" campaign included television, radio, print, online, in-dealership and customer relationship marketing media components and aggressive marketing tactics (mobile billboards, aerial banners, street teams), as well as targeting the NASCAR fan community. In the "Ask Dr. Z" ad campaign he provides answers to customers' questions and exits by saying "Auf Wiedersehen" (German for "Goodbye" or literally "on seeing again").

The ad campaign emphasized the consumer benefits of the best of American and German engineering and design built into every Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicle. One included Zetsche riding in a Jeep Liberty crossing a pile of logs, another showed him at the trunk of a Dodge Caravan minivan heading a soccer ball, and the last showed him at the wheel of a Chrysler Pacifica when it undergoes a crash test where he emerges from the wreckage unscathed.[9] [10]

As a response of shrinking sales, the Employee Pricing Plus program was extended through the end of August, three new TV ads, which did not feature Dr. Z, were added to the August campaign.[11] After three months however DaimlerChrysler hurriedly withdrew the Dr. Z campaign due to a significant loss in market-share. However, some of the Dr. Z ads can still be seen in Canadian television. In later broadcasts, the tagline in Dr. Z TV ads was changed to 'See the best in German and North American design in your Dodge and Chrysler dealer.'

The campaign was criticized for having the wrong guy for doing funny ads.[12] CNW Marketing Research poll showed most people thought Dr. Z was a fictional character, did not notice the employee discount offer in the ads and radio commercial listeners had difficulty understanding his German accent.[9][13]

Other activities (selection)

Corporate boards

  • Deutsche Bank, Member of the European Advisory Board (since 2006)[14]
  • RWE, Member of the Supervisory Board (2009-2016)

Non-profit organizations

Recognition

Zetsche was awarded "Entrepreneur of the year" in 2008 from the German media.[23]

Controversy

Zetsche was investigated for the involuntary manslaughter of a 27-year-old engineer who died in an accident caused by an intern on one of the firm’s test tracks. The newspaper Stuttgarter Zeitung reported earlier that the parents of the engineer felt the company should not have put the intern behind the wheel of a fast car on a test track. However, it was generally agreed that the public prosecutors were over-reaching their prosecutorial authority in holding Zetsche responsible, as he was not responsible in any way for regulating the limits of interns’ activities while at the company.[24]

References

  1. ↑ Andy Sharman (April 1, 2015), Daimler set to reward Dieter Zetsche with extended contract Financial Times.
  2. ↑ Andy Sharman (April 1, 2015), Daimler set to reward Dieter Zetsche with extended contract Financial Times.
  3. ↑ Patrick McGee (February 16, 2016), Daimler extends CEO’s contract and appoints new R&D head Financial Times.
  4. ↑ Guy Chazan (April 3, 2017), Germany’s Greens stuck in rut after dismal election showing Financial Times.
  5. ↑ Dieter Zetsche (26 September 2018). "The Next Step". daimler.com.
  6. ↑ Matt Saunders (10 September 2013). "My money is on the new S-class brand". Jalopnik.
  7. ↑ Clark, Andrew. "Svengali-like Dr Z - the unlikely star of Daimler's TV ad campaign in US". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 August 2006.
  8. ↑ Chrysler Group Turns Up the Heat with Employee Pricing Plus for All Customers Archived 2006-07-21 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. 1 2 "Top 10 Chrysler Moments". Time. April 30, 2009.
  10. ↑ Ray Wert. "Dodge Nitro Kills Dog, Makes Us Cry A Little". Jalopnik.
  11. ↑ "Why, Dr. Z, Why?: Chrysler's ad campaign flops despite employee pricing for all". autoweek.com.
  12. ↑ Davey G. Johnson. "The Trouble With Dr. Z". Jalopnik.
  13. ↑ "Is Chrysler's". leftlanenews.com.
  14. ↑ 2006 Annual Report: Advisory Boards Deutsche Bank.
  15. ↑ Board of Trustees Deutscher Zukunftspreis.
  16. ↑ Managing Board & Presiding Board German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA).
  17. ↑ Board of Directors European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).
  18. ↑ Board of Trustees European School of Management and Technology (ESMT).
  19. ↑ Board of Trustees Baden-Badener Unternehmer-Gespräche (BBUG).
  20. ↑ International Advisory Council Brookings Institution.
  21. ↑ Board Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft.
  22. ↑ Advisory Board Turkey: Culture of Change Initiative (TCCI).
  23. ↑ FINANZEN-Nacht 2008: Dieter Zetsche ist Unternehmer des Jahres
  24. ↑ Reuters (16 September 2011). "German manslaughter probe launched at Daimler CEO". Reuters.
  • Dr. Dieter Zetsche at Daimler
  • Appearances on C-SPAN
  • Dieter Zetsche on IMDb
  • Works by or about Dieter Zetsche in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
  • "Dieter Zetsche collected news and commentary". The New York Times.
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