Mercedes-Benz U.S. International is getting new leadership, as CEO Jason Hoff takes on a new role in Stuttgart, Germany, the company announced recently.
Hoff will leave his current job as head of Production SUV/Sports Cars and president and CEO of MBUSI July 1 to become the new head of quality management at Mercedes-Benz Cars worldwide. Replacing him at the Vance, Alabama plant will be Michael Göbel, currently head of compact cars production for Mercedes-Benz Cars.
When he assumes his new responsibilities, Hoff will succeed Jörg Burzer, who, in turn will succeed Markus Schäfer as a member of the Divisional Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production and Supply Chain. Hoff, who has been head of MBUSI since 2013, will “remain closely associated with all Mercedes-Benz Cars production plants worldwide,” the company said in a news release.
Hoff’s history with the company includes an earlier stint in Stuttgart and other roles at the Vance plant. In an earlier assignment in Germany, he was responsible for procurement of interior components for the Mercedes-Benz C- and E-Class sedan. Before that, Hoff held various management positions at MBUSI, including vice president logistics and head of assembly and procurement.
As head of MBUSI, Hoff oversaw production of Mercedes’ GLE, GLS and GLE Coupe SUVs sold worldwide, as well as the C-Class sedan for North America. In September 2017, MBUSI announced a $1 billion plant investment mostly slated for the company’s electric initiative, which includes the construction of a Mercedes-Benz factory in Bibb County, Alabama to produce batteries. The Vance plant employs more than 3,700 people.
The new head of that plant, Göbel, is no stranger to the Tuscaloosa County operation, where, in 2008, he was the head of planning. Before that, Göbel began his career at Mercedes-Benz’ parent company, Daimler, in 1990 at the Mercedes plant in Mannheim, Germany and then Rastatt, Germany in 1994.
From 1998 to 2007, Göbel held various management positions in production, planning and logistics at the Mercedes operation in Bremen, Germany, most recently as head of assembly. In mid-2014, Göbel took over the management of the company’s global compact car production network. His role at the Vance plant will make him the local representative of Daimler and “thus the face of the company in the region,” the press release notes.
“In his new position, he will continue to develop the Tuscaloosa site and make it fit for the future, leveraging his many years of production and management experience.”
