Roland Folger appointed CEO of Mercedes-Benz India

Roland Folger, former CEO of Mercedes-Benz Malaysia, has been appointed new CEO of Mercedes India. He replaces Eberhard Kern, who will move to Belgium to take up the role of president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Belgium Luxembourg from October 1, 2015.

Folger has been associated with the good performance of Mercedes in Malaysia. The carmaker sold 5,163 units in the first half of 2015; an all-time high sales record, and a 53 percent growth over 3,366 units during the same period in 2014. When he moves to Europe, Kern will take the mantle from Mark De Haes, who made the shift to Daimler Middle East & Levant (DMEL) in Dubai, as CEO, last month.

As head of the business in India, Kern was responsible for the ‘15 in 2015’ strategy, a 15-model onslaught scheduled for this year. In his tenure of less than three years, Kern has seen a considerable increase in the popularity of the brand in India. The German carmaker posted the best-ever Q2, H1 sales in the country this year, and has achieved a significant increase in production capacity and expansion of the dealer network and product portfolio.