Daimler Trucks has announced a change in leadership with its successful commercial vehicle business in India. From 1 November, Satyakam Arya, currently head of customer services at Daimler Trucks Asia and chairman of PABCO Ltd, will take over as managing director and CEO of Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV).

He replaces Erich Nesselhauf, who will return to Daimler headquarters in Germany to take over global responsibility for manufacturing engineering at Daimler Trucks.

Arya joined DICV in 2009 as the head of powertrain procurement before becoming its vice president of global procurement in 2013. He established the entire supply chain network for DICV and helped build India into an important part of the Daimler production system. In 2014, he moved to Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) in Japan as the head of global procurement for Daimler Trucks Asia (DTA). In 2017, he became the head of customer services for DTA while simultaneously fulfilling the role of president and CEO of MFTBC‘s subsidiary PABCO. In this dual responsibility he has effectively grown DTA‘s global parts and service business and significantly improved PABCO‘s profitability.

Erich Nesselhauf

Martin Daum, member of the board of management of Daimler AG, Daimler Trucks & Buses, said they were writing a success story in India. This month they celebrated the production of the 100,000^th commercial vehicle in their Chennai plant in Southern India.

“As the first newcomer in this challenging market we managed to build more than 100,000 vehicles in India since start of production in 2012. Erich Nesselhauf massively contributed to this success with his extraordinary commitment and his know-how. Satyakam Arya, a commercial vehicle expert from our local leadership team with a deep understanding of the markets in India and Asia, will now continue the growth trajectory of DICV.”