Roland S Folger, the current president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Malaysia, will succeed Eberhard Kern, as MD and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India from October 1.

1. Mercedes-Benz India. E-3, MIDC, Chakan. Tal: Khed. Pune- 410501, India. Tel: +91 2135 673000 / 395000, Fax: +91 2135 673953
Press Information
3rd August, 2015
Mercedes-Benz appoints Roland S. Folger as
the Managing Director and CEO for India;
Eberhard Kern to move to a new role in
Europe
 Roland S. Folger will take the mantle from Eberhard Kern who will move
to a new role in Europe
 Eberhard Kern played a pivotal role in spearheading Mercedes-Benz’s
sales growth which nearly doubled from 2012-2015; and also in
expanding brand’s network in the Indian market since 2013
 Roland S. Folger is currently in charge of Mercedes-Benz Malaysia as
the President & CEO
 The appointment will be effective from 1st October, 2015
Pune– Mercedes-Benz today appointed Roland S. Folger as the Managing Director
and CEO of its India operations. Roland S. Folger will replace Eberhard Kern who
will assume a new role for the European market.
Under the leadership of Eberhard Kern during the past three years, the growth
strategy of Mercedes-Benz India has been enhanced including the expansion of the
production capacity, as well as a significant extension of the network and the product
portfolio. In 2014, Mercedes-Benz India achieved sales history by crossing the five
digit sales number. After six years, Mercedes-Benz today leads the luxury car market

2. Mercedes-Benz India. E-3, MIDC, Chakan. Tal: Khed. Pune- 410501, India. Tel: +91 2135 673000 / 395000, Fax: +91 2135 673953
in India and also holds numero uno position in terms of CSI score and impeccable
brand equity in the luxury car segment in India.
Eberhard Kern, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India commented,
“It was an enriching and a humbling ‘India experience’ for me. After heading India
operations for three years, I can confidently state that in my entire three decades of
Daimler career, the stint in India remains the most memorable one. The diversity of
people, their culture and the unique business opportunity and challenges that India
posed is enormous and one of its kind. It is very satisfying to see the immense growth
of Mercedes-Benz in India as our sales volumes nearly doubled from 2012 to 2015.
I am confident that the brand will scale new heights with the able leadership of
Roland. Europe would be a different market altogether, and my India experience
would be quite handy. I appreciate all the invaluable support that I received from my
colleagues in Mercedes-Benz India and also would like to thank our dealer partners
who are the best and the most professional in the business.”
Roland Folger, currently the President & CEO of Mercedes-Benz Malaysia
stated, “I have worked across various countries and cultures but have always been
fascinated with India as a nation. India’s rich cultural diversity, its people, their varied
customs, different languages, diverse topography combined with its status as a
rising economic power, makes it one of the most interesting markets to grow the
business today. I feel extremely privileged to head the operations in India, which is
an emerging luxury car market in which Mercedes-Benz is the fastest growing luxury
automotive brand. With my experience across business divisions I look forward to
pursue the ‘India story’ further and make the foundation of Mercedes-Benz even
stronger in this dynamic country. We have one of the finest teams and dealer
partners on-board with us and I am eager to be part of it.”
Roland Folger who will take the new responsibility of heading Mercedes-Benz India
from 1st October, 2015, is also a Mercedes-Benz veteran for over three decades.
After holding several positions in Sales departments for Mercedes-Benz Passenger

3. Mercedes-Benz India. E-3, MIDC, Chakan. Tal: Khed. Pune- 410501, India. Tel: +91 2135 673000 / 395000, Fax: +91 2135 673953
Cars and Commercial Vehicles with responsibility for the SEA region, he was
appointed Vice President for Sales, Marketing and After Sales at MBUSI in
Tuscaloosa, where Mr. Folger was part of the pioneering team that introduced the
first M-Class in the USA.
In 2006, he joined Mercedes-Benz Vans division as Head of Product Management
and Marketing Communication and two years later took over the responsibility for
worldwide Sales Vans in September 2008. Effective March 1st, 2011, Mr. Folger
was appointed President & CEO of Mercedes-Benz Malaysia.
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About Mercedes-Benz India:
Established in 1994, Mercedes-Benz India Pvt. Ltd. pioneered the luxury car market in India
and boasts of more than 129 years of cutting edge innovation in the luxury automobile
industry globally. Set up in 2009, Mercedes-Benz India’s world class production facility is
spread over 100 acres in Chakan near Pune. The production facility is among the fastest
green-field operations ever to be created and is rated among the topmost CKD plants of
Mercedes-Benz, globally. Since June 2015, Mercedes-Benz India also commenced
production from its new expanded production facility located in the same premises. The
production facility now carries an investment of INR 1000+ crores and has an installed
production capacity of 20,000 units annually, largest for any luxury car maker in India.
Mercedes-Benz India product portfolio comprises the locally produced S-Class, E-Class, C-
Class sedans and the GLA, GL-Class and the M-Class SUVs. Completely Built imported
cars portfolio includes the A-Class, B-Class, CLA, CLS, SLK, E-Class Cabriolet, S-Class
Coupé, the S 600 Guard and a range of other Guard vehicles etc. The product portfolio also
comprises the iconic off-roader AMG G 63 as well as a wide range of other AMG
performance cars like the AMG CLA 45, AMG E 63, AMG SLK 55, AMG S 63 Coupe, AMG
GL 63, AMG ML 63 and the AMG GLA 45.
Continuing its growth momentum into 2015, Mercedes-Benz India announced its philosophy
for the year 2015 as the year of ‘Live the Best’, which is based on its brand philosophy of
‘Best or Nothing’. The growth strategy is built on 5 key initiatives with an aim to provide
nothing but the ‘BEST’ to its customers, through BEST products, BEST operations, BEST
touch points, BEST customer experiences and BEST corporate citizenship. ‘Live The BEST'
which is the new driving philosophy for Mercedes-Benz India in 2015, aims to also achieve
the objectives of growing a profitable and sustainable business in India and to further extend
its customer focused approach.

4. Mercedes-Benz India. E-3, MIDC, Chakan. Tal: Khed. Pune- 410501, India. Tel: +91 2135 673000 / 395000, Fax: +91 2135 673953
The company has launched nine products, including some of the most awaited cars like the
CLA, the new C 220 CDI, the new B-Class, the new E-Class Cabriolet, the new CLS 250
CDI, the new S600 Guard and under the designo platform launched S-500 Coupé, the S 63
Coupe AMG and the G 63 AMG ‘Crazy Colour’ Edition.
Mercedes-Benz India also inaugurated new dealerships in Jamshedpur, and Ghaziabad
along with a new city showroom in Bangalore and a service outlet in Trivandrum. Mercedes-
Benz inaugurated its highly exclusive AMG Performance Centre, in Hyderabad and Pune.
There are five such high-end AMG Performance Centre in India, currently. Presently
Mercedes-Benz India has 73 outlets across 39 Indian cities including 3 standalone
Mercedes-Benz Certified outlets, making it the brand with the densest network presence in
the luxury segment, in India.
Mercedes-Benz India registered a stellar 41% year-on-year growth by selling 6659 units in
the Jan - June 2015 period. This sales growth also marks the brand’s highest ever Q2
volumes at 3093 units, up by 43%. Mercedes-Benz for the second consecutive year has
emerged as the ‘most awarded luxury car brand’ in India. The brand has won as many as
34 prestigious automotive awards conferred by different media houses across India, the
highest won by any luxury automotive brand in India. In the Economic Times’ Brand Equity
‘Most Exciting Brands’ survey 2015, Mercedes-Benz emerged on top of the ‘Automotive four
wheeler’ category and remained the topmost auto brand in the survey that comprised 100
brands in India across categories.
Media Contact: Mercedes-Benz India Pvt. Ltd.:
Shekhar Das Chowdhury | shekhar.daschowdhury@daimler.com |+91 98508 36477
Reuben George | reuben.george@daimler.com | +91 9823969057
Perfect Relations:
Chennakeshav Shenoy | cshenoy@perfectrelations.com | 09819266998
Shipra Sharma | shipra@perfectrelations.com | 09004016775