Daum to Replace Patterson as DTNA Chief

This story appears in the March 23 print edition of Transport Topics.

Chris Patterson will step down as president of Daimler Trucks North America on June 1, some four years after taking the reins of the nation’s largest heavy-duty truck maker.

Patterson, who will turn 55 next month, said he will be retiring after more than 30 years in heavy-duty truck making.

He will be replaced by Martin Daum, who since 2006 has been running the truck factory in Woerth, Germany, that DTNA parent Daimler AG says is the world’s largest. It turns about 100,000 trucks a year — more than half the annual output of DTNA’s entire North American manufacturing operation, according to Daimler.

Daum will be the third president of Daimler’s North American truck business since James Hebe was removed in 2001, during the last major downturn in truck sales.

Patterson, in a March 19 phone interview with Transport Topics, said he had long planned to retire at 55.

“I am retiring,” Patterson said. “I don’t intend to go back into the nine-to-five world. I’ve had 32 years in this business, and the cycles wear you down.”

During his tenure, DTNA rolled out its Cascadia highway tractor and introduced Detroit Diesel Corp. versions of Daimler AG’s world engine platform.

Patterson also oversaw the geographic realignment of DTNA’s operations, which have shifted away from Portland, Ore., in recent years.

He was present earlier this month at the opening of DTNA’s new factory in Saltillo, Mexico (3-9, click here for previous Premium Content story). Last year, he supervised the transfer of DTNA sales and marketing functions to Fort Mill, S.C., from Portland.

Daum has been with Daimler for 20 years and will now oversee Daimler’s Freightliner, Western Star and Detroit Diesel Corp. brands. Daimler is ending its Sterling brand later this month.

DTNA said on its Web site it employs 25,000 people and has eight manufacturing facilities.

Patterson’s career in the North American truck manufacturing industry included an 11-year stint at what is now DTNA; 14 years at Canadian Kenworth Co.; and four years with Volvo Trucks North America.

Patterson became chief executive officer of Freightliner LLC in 2005. His title changed to president of DTNA after Daimler rebranded its North American truck business in 2007.

Patterson took over the job from Rainer Schmueckle, who in 2005 left DTNA to run Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz auto unit.

Schmueckle succeeded Hebe in 2001. Hebe is currently senior vice president for North American sales for Navistar Inc., a DTNA competitor.

In a March 16 statement announcing Patterson’s retirement, Andreas Renschler, global head of Daimler’s truck unit, said that “Chris Patterson has been crucial to our efforts to set the course for the competitiveness of Daimler Trucks North America with competitive products and a comprehensive efficiency program.”

WardsAuto.com reported that in February, Navistar overtook DTNA as the U.S. market leader. Navistar captured 27.7% of all U.S. truck sales last month, while DTNA took 27.1% (click here for related Premium Content story).

Patterson, who spoke with TT last week from the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky., said he envisioned a different environment for his retirement.

“I thought I’d be turning [the business] over to somebody as the market crested and we were fighting for capacity,” Patterson said. Instead, “we have these massive plants idling, along with nothing to build. If order intake improves, we’ll get to about 30% of what we did in 2006.”

Patterson also lamented the untimely coincidence of the current global recession with the opening of the Saltillo plant.

The factory, currently operating on a three-day work week and turning out Cascadia trucks, was conceived as a way to seize back the market share DTNA gave up in 2006 because of a lack of manufacturing capacity, Patterson said.

Had the company foreseen the depth of the current recession, “we could easily have deferred that [factory] investment and preserved roughly $400 million of shareholders’ money,” said Patterson.

Nevertheless, Patterson was optimistic about DTNA’s long-term prospects.

“The talent that Freightliner now has is orders of magnitude better than prior regimes,” said Patterson. “This company’s going to really kick some butt when this downturn’s over.”

Along with news of Patterson’s impending departure, Daimler also announced that Albert Kirchmann, 52, will become head of Daimler Trucks Asia, replacing Harald Boelstler, who is retiring June 30.

Kirchmann, who also will become CEO of Daimler’s Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp. subsidiary, has been with the company for 20 years. He most recently was head of finance and controlling at Daimler Trucks and Buses, a position he has held since 2006.

Boelstler who worked for Daimler for 30 years, oversaw the company’s integration of Mitsubishi’s truck and bus business, which produces light- and medium-duty trucks.