Ola Källenius

Ola Källenius
Källenius in 2018
Born	(1969-06-11) 11 June 1969 (age 55) Västervik, Sweden
Education	Stockholm School of Economics
Title	Chairman of Mercedes-Benz Group, Chief Executive Officer of Mercedes-Benz
Predecessor	Dieter Zetsche
Children	3

Sten Ola Källenius (born 11 June 1969) is a Swedish-German business executive. He serves as the Chairman of the Board of Management and CEO of the Mercedes-Benz Group. Källenius was the first non-German to hold both positions prior to obtaining German citizenship.

Education

Källenius graduated from the Stockholm School of Economics and the University of St. Gallen, with a master's degree, the CEMS Master in International Management (CEMS MIM) and Finance and Accounting.^[1]

Career

Källenius began his career in 1993 at the former Daimler-Benz AG, where he worked in the "International Junior Research Group". After other early assignments in management control, he assumed various management positions within Daimler AG, including head of the "Powertrain" purchasing department of the Mercedes-Benz Cars group.

In 2010, he took over the chairmanship of the management of Mercedes-AMG GmbH, which he relinquished to Tobias Moers on 1 October 2013.^[2] Since October 2013, he has been a member of the executive board of Mercedes-Benz Cars and was responsible for sales. He was appointed to the board of management of Daimler AG on 1 January 2015.^[1] On 1 January 2017, he took over the management of the "Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development" division as a member of the executive board.^[3] He became the successor to Thomas Weber, who had been responsible for this division since 2004.^[4] Britta Seeger succeeded Källenius as board member for Mercedes-Benz Cars Sales.

Källenius succeeded Dieter Zetsche as the Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG in May 2019.^[5] In 2023, Mercedes-Benz extended his contract until mid-2029.^[6]

Källenius (left) visit Chongqing, China, 2024

In his capacity as CEO, Källenius accompanied Chancellor Olaf Scholz on a state visit to China in 2024.^[7]

Positions

Källenius is a strong advocate of plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles within Daimler. He has pushed the new electric model initiative, product and technology brand EQ, along with a $12 billion investment into Mercedes-Benz's new line of battery-powered vehicles.^[8][9] Within the initiative he has proposed and advocated for a series of ten new and purely electric Mercedes-Benz models to be launched by 2022.^[10] The first car was the Mercedes-Benz EQC SUV, launched in the first half of 2019.^[8]

Personal life

Källenius is married; the couple have three sons. His wife is a environmental activist (part of the Green Globe Organisation) who according to Källenius requested that he transition the entire Mercedes-Benz range, including the flagship G-Wagon, to fully plug-in electric vehicles.^[11] In July 2023 Källenius obtained German citizenship.^[12]

References

1. "Ola Källenius – Biography | Daimler". Daimler. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
2. "Tobias Moers wird neuer AMG-Chef". Mercedes-Benz Passion Blog (in German). 2013-09-06. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
3. "Aufsichtsrat bestellt Ola Källenius als Vorstand für Konzernforschung und Mercedes-Benz Cars Entwicklung". Mercedes-Benz Passion Blog (in German). 2016-02-16. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
4. "Designierter Daimler-Vorstandschef Ola Källenius: Ein Faible für American Football". Stuttgarter Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2018-10-04.
5. "Ola Källenius". daimler.com. Retrieved 2019-06-07. Ola Källenius has been a member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG since January 1, 2015, and Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG since end of Annual Meeting of Daimler AG on May 22, 2019.
6. Ilona Wissenbach (15 March 2024), Mercedes CEO nearly doubled 2023 remuneration with big bonus boost Reuters.
7. Victoria Waldersee, Christoph Steitz, Alexander Huebner and Ludwig Burger (4 April 2024), Top German CEOs join Scholz's China trip despite 'de-risking' push Reuters.
8. "Daimler: Interview with Ola Källenius: "At least one electrified alternative in every model series" | Automotive World". www.automotiveworld.com. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
9. "Ola Källenius". The Economic Club of Washington D.C. 2019-11-08. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
10. "Daimler's Dr. Z readies for retirement, names Ola Källenius successor". Roadshow. 2018-09-26. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
11. Meck, Georg. "Daimlers Kronprinz: "Hi, ich bin der Ola"". FAZ.NET (in German). ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
12. MarketScreener (2023-07-10). "Mercedes boss Ola Källenius now also a German citizen". Retrieved 2023-07-10.