Daimler Refuses Comment on Report that Werner Will Walk

12/23/96

Reuters reported that the German industrial group Daimler-Benz AG and its subsidiary Mercedes-Benz AG refused to comment last Thursday about a magazine report that said Mercedes-Benz's chief executive Helmut Werner would step down from his post as part of a management shake-up within Daimler.

Although a Mercedes spokesperson said "we won't comment on that" in response to a Reuter enquiry, he did say, "the supervisory board (of Daimler) will meet on January 23 to discuss the structure as well as people."

Manager magazine had reported that Werner, Juergen Schremp (chair of Daimler's mangement board), and Hilmar Kopper (supervisory board chairman), had arranged Werner's departure in confidential talks in early December.

Daimler plans to merge Mercedes-Benz AG into the Daimler-Benz group, a move which Werner reportedly opposes. Media and market speculation that Werner could step down has increased over the last few weeks.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel