• Aydoğan Çakmaz will succeed Sven Graeble as Senior Vice President, Head of Operations & Life Cycle Management Trucks & Buses.

• Hironobu Ando will replace Aydoğan Çakmaz as Senior Vice President, Head of Product Engineering Trucks Asia.

Kawasaki, Japan – Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC), under the umbrella of Daimler Trucks Asia (DTA), today announces the appointment of Mr. Aydoğan Çakmaz as Senior Vice President, Head of Operations & Life Cycle Management Trucks & Buses, replacing Mr. Sven Graeble. Additionally, Mr. Hironobu Ando will succeed Mr. Çakmaz in the role of Senior Vice President, Head of Product Engineering Trucks Asia. These personnel changes will be effective from October 1, 2020.

Mr. Çakmaz started his career at Daimler 35 years ago in passenger car development after studying mechanical engineering at the Ulm University of Applied Sciences. Since joining Daimler Trucks in 2000, he has gained significant experience in engineering through various posts in Turkey, India, and Japan. As Head of Product Engineering for Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), he established the Product Engineering department and test center at the young organization. From 2013, he has overseen collaborative development in all aspects of Product Engineering under Daimler Trucks Asia, and has contributed to increased cooperation between MFTBC and DICV. During his tenure, Mr. Çakmaz has been a strong proponent for the electrification of the FUSO product portfolio, leading key initiatives such as the conceptualization of the eCanter F-Cell. DICV also enjoyed a successful update of the BharatBenz product lineup in 2019, meeting Bharat Stage VI emission norms well before the competition.

Mr. Hironobu Ando started his career at MFTBC in 1995 after graduating with a degree in Material Engineering from the University of Tokyo. After a decade of experience in chassis design, he took on an assignment at the Daimler Trucks headquarters in Stuttgart to drive cross-brand design innovations between the Mercedes-Benz Actros and FUSO Super Great. In his most recent role, Mr. Ando has overseen vehicle testing for both FUSO and BharatBenz products, as well as Mechatronics Development and Simulation at MFTBC. He has been a major force in flagship projects such as the Super Great MY17, the first-generation eCanter launched in 2017, and the Super Great MY19, which was the first truck in the Japanese market to be introduced with Level 2 automated driving support technologies.

Mr. Sven Graeble will be departing from his post in Japan to take on the position of Head of Operations Mercedes-Benz Trucks, Daimler Trucks Russia & MBS and Head of Business Development Trucks Russia. Until now, he has spent nearly two decades at Daimler, half of which he has dedicated to Daimler Trucks Asia organizations. At Chennai, Mr. Graeble oversaw the construction of the DICV Oragadam plant and the successive production ramp-up. He then assumed the position of Director of Marketing & Network at MFTBC. Most recently as Head of Operations and Life Cycle Management, he has spearheaded the digitalization of production and facility management at the Kawasaki plant.

Hartmut Schick, President and CEO of MFTBC and Head of DTA, said, “Sven Graeble has laid the groundwork for increased organizational efficiency at MFTBC’s plants by pushing for continuous improvements and digitalization. He will pass the baton to Aydoğan Çakmaz, who has pushed many key projects, especially the world’s first commercial electric truck in series production, the FUSO eCanter. With Hironobu Ando, we have a leader who pairs international engineering experience with the expertise of having led all testing at our Kitsuregawa facility, for FUSO and BharatBenz products. Both have a deep understanding of the cross-organizational collaboration that supports MFTBC as well as DICV, and I am confident that their leadership will propel Daimler Trucks Asia to the next level.”