Change in Management at the Mercedes-Benz Vans Business Unit

Stuttgart, Jan 19, 2006 The DaimlerChrysler Board of Management has appointed Wilfried Porth (46), previously President and CEO of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation, as Head of the Mercedes-Benz Vans Business Unit effective from April 1, 2006. Porth succeeds Dr. Rolf Bartke (59), who is retiring after 25 years in various management functions at Daimler-Benz, Mercedes-Benz and DaimlerChrysler. Wilfried Porth studied mechanical engineering from 1980 to 1985 at the University of Stuttgart, graduating as a Diplom-Ingenieur. In 1985, he joined the former Daimler-Benz AG as a planning engineer and in 1989 became instructor for Manufacturing Technologies. In 1991, Mr. Porth, who was born in Baden-Baden, Germany, became Executive Assistant to the Chairman of the Board of Management and Chief Executive Officer of the former Mercedes-Benz AG. In 1992, he was appointed Head of the “Mercedes-Benz AG Corporate Secretary Office”. Between 1994 and 1997, he was Head of Bus and Coach Manufacture and Development at Mercedes-Benz do Brazil. In 1997, he was appointed Member of the Management Board responsible for Manufacturing at Mercedes-Benz of South Africa. As a Vice President of DaimlerChrysler, he was responsible for Executive Management Development, before taking up the position of President and CEO of Fuso in Tokyo.

Andreas Renschler, member of the DaimlerChrysler Board of Management responsible for the Commercial Vehicles Division remarked; "We would like to thank Rolf Bartke for eleven successful years as Head of the Mercedes-Benz Vans Business Unit and wish him all the best as he enters this new phase of his life."