Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) has announced that Chief Operating Officer Roger Neilsen will become CEO and president, effective April 1. He will oversee all brands, including Thomas Built Buses.
He succeeds Martin Daum, who earlier this month became a member of the board of management for Daimler AG that oversees DTNA.
“Roger Nielsen brings a rock-solid product, manufacturing and sales background to this position paired with a razor-sharp focus on technology, quality and customer service,” commented Daum in a statement on Wednesday. “He has an excellent track record as an influential leader in the industry.”
Neilsen started at Daimler Trucks as a manufacturing engineer in 1986, when the company was still known as Freightliner Corp. He held several engineering and management positions at the truck manufacturer over the next 12 years, including plant manager, general manager of materials and senior vice president of manufacturing.
He joined Daimler-Benz AG in 1998 in production network planning and technical clearing and within two years was named GM of operations for Western Star for Freightliner. Nielsen became president of Freightliner Specialty Vehicles for DTNA and COO in 2001.
In addition to DTNA and Thomas Built Buses, Nielsen will also oversee Freightliner Trucks, Western Star Trucks, Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp. and Detroit Diesel Corp.
“I am honored and proud to head up this great organization that I have been part of for over 30 years,” he said. “I look forward to building on the outstanding success achieved by the DTNA team under Martin’s leadership. Together, we will continue our dedication to delivering the best products and services to our North American customers.”
