Watch Germany’s DAX 40 has a new female CEO: Daimler Truck appoints Karin Radstrom as next head in rare move Germany 40 News

She will soak up the position next month with a time period that runs thru January 2029, the corporate mentioned in a observation on Wednesday. The 45-year previous succeeds Martin Daum, who will stay a control board member throughout the finish of this 12 months “to support a smooth handover,” Daimler Truck mentioned.

Radstrom will develop into simply the second one female CEO of a DAX 40 company, becoming a member of Belen Garijo, the head of pharmaceutical massive Merck KGaA. While Germany has a global recognition for being innovative on gender parity, the rustic has some of the biggest male-female pay gaps in Europe.

Radstrom, a former elite rower who competed the world over for her local Sweden, joined the Daimler Truck board in 2021 and has since been answerable for Mercedes-Benz Trucks, the place she’s been credited with making improvements to customer support.

During Radstrom’s tenure, Mercedes-Benz Trucks noticed its benefit margins upward thrust, even as it invested closely in the transition to zero-emission vehicles. The corporate is having a bet on each hydrogen and battery-electric fashions as the eventual possible choices to combustion engines. 

“Within a short period of time, the trained engineer has successfully reshaped the segment profitability and advanced its transformation toward sustainability,” the corporate mentioned. She presented a vary of new battery-electric vehicles, in keeping with the observation. 

Radstrom rose to prominence at Scania CV AB, Daimler Truck’s Swedish rival. Insiders regularly level to her reputation amongst workers, her consensual control taste and her center of attention at the shift to zero-emission logistics. 

Her appointment comes at a turbulent time for Germany’s commercial sector. Rising rates of interest and better power costs since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are squeezing capital funding budgets, making it tougher to take a position in new property like vehicles. 

A worsening scarcity of professional engineers — a results of a demographic disaster that’s evolved over a long time — could also be expanding the price of generating in Germany.