Zetsche to head Mercedes and DaimlerChrysler

Dieter Zetsche, the Chrysler group CEO who was set to take over the running of DaimlerChrysler on 1 January 2006, will now also take over at struggling Mercedes Car Group on 1 September, DaimlerChrysler has announced.

Current Mercedes chief Eckhard Cordes, who was passed over in the race for the group chief executive job, is leaving the world’s fifth-biggest carmaker at the end of August at his own request, the Stuttgart-based company said in a statement, the Reuters news agency has reported.

Under the accelerated switchover, Daimler said Chrysler group COO Tom LaSorda will become up to CEO on 1 September, four months earlier than first planned. The fact that Zetsche might take over at Mercedes had been well documented in the German media, but may last far longer than the time it would take simply to find a permanent replacement for Cordes.