Former Freightliner Exec Schmueckle Leaves Daimler

Rainer Schmueckle, the former head of Daimler Trucks North America, has left parent company Daimler AG after heading the German company’s Mercedes-Benz auto unit for five years, Bloomberg reported.

Schmueckle, 50, departed to take on “new challenges” after being replaced as Mercedes’ chief operating officer by Wolfgang Bernhard, Bloomberg said.

Schmueckle led a turnaround at Daimler’s U.S. Freightliner heavy-trucks unit, serving as its chief financial officer from 1994 to 1997, and had been with Daimler for 26 years.

He replaced James Hebe as head of Freightliner in May 2001 and was succeeded by Chris Patterson at DTNA in April 2005. Martin Daum succeeded Patterson in that position last year. (Click here for previous story.)