Mercedes-Benz USA Announces General Manager Appointments

ATLANTA, Dec. 15, 2015 -- Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) today announced three general manager appointments effective January 1, 2016. Mike Nolte, currently serving as general manager of project management will become general manager of sales and volume planning. Nolte will report to Dietmar Exler, vice president of sales, and be responsible for sales & volume planning, aligning MBUSA's strategic sales direction and front-line execution. A 23-year veteran of the automotive industry, Nolte has held numerous senior-level positions within global sales and finance at Daimler. He replaces Blair Creed who will return to Mercedes-Benz Canada to assume the role of vice president service and parts, also effective January 1, 2016.

Separately, Jay Schmid will assume the role of general manager of after sales business development, replacing Frank Diertl who transitions to his new role as director for service and parts business for Mercedes-Benz Cars in Stuttgart.  Schmid will report to Christian Treiber, incoming vice president of customer services. Schmid joined MBUSA in 2005, and worked in several management positions until being named general manager of Mercedes-Benz Manhattan in 2013.

Replacing Schmid as general manager of MB Manhattan will be Julian Soell. Soell joined MBUSA in 2012 as the general manager of engineering services. In that role, Soell was responsible for dealer workshop services, field technical services, product technical services, vehicle compliance and analysis, the parts quality evaluation center, the engineering test center, warranty services group and the telematics services team.