The 47-year-old Dietmar Exler will take over as President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA and NAFTA effective January 1, 2016. He will take the place of Stephen Cannon, who is leaving the company but will stay on as a consultant until the end of January to help with the transition. Cannon will remain as a consultant to MBUSA until Jan. 31, 2016.
Exler began at McKinsey & Co. in 1997 as part of the financial interest group in its Germany office and later in its Detroit-based Midwest office. Five years later, Exler joined DaimlerChrysler Financial as senior manager of program development and was promoted to vice president of marketing the same year.
Exler holds a doctorate in law from Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria, and a master of laws from the University of Chicago. He currently resides in Brookhaven, Georgia. He will now be in charge of the Falcons, a Major League Soccer team and developing the Mercedes-Benz Stadium the Falcons are slated to play in, which is scheduled to open in 2017.
