It was pretty evident that it would happen but not this bad .

The car connection (c)
March 15, 2005


Benz Shuffling Marketing Deck

Mercedes-Benz will remove its current head of sales and marketing as early as next week, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal and in the German weekly Der Spiegel. The reports say Joachim Schmidt will lose his job as Mercedes tries to work its way out of sagging profits and declining sales. DaimlerChrysler spokespeople would not confirm the WSJ's report. In the fourth quarter of 2004 Mercedes' profits totaled just $25 million , down from $900 million the year before. Quality problems have been held responsible for some of the sales decline in Europe. Along with a new marketing chief, Mercedes could get a sales bounce from several new models coming this year, including the new ML-Class SUV.