In May, Dr Rainer Müller-Finkeldei is to become head of product engineering at Mercedes-Benz Trucks in Germany, Brazil and Turkey. He will take over from professor Dr Uwe Baake who is to retire.
Karin Rådström, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Trucks, said, “Rainer Müller-Finkeldei is a great engineer with international experience who understands our customer’s needs. He is also an excellent leader. I am convinced he will play a vital role in developing the right products to lead in sustainable transportation. I am very glad to welcome Rainer to the Mercedes-Benz Trucks team and wish him all the best in his new responsibility.”
Dr Müller-Finkeldei joined the Daimler Group in 1995 to write his master’s dissertation. He then began his professional career as a development engineer in research and development at former Daimler-Benz. After various R&D roles in the passenger car and vans business, he joined the truck division in 2004 as executive assistant to the VP of truck product creation. He then moved on to various senior positions in product development within the Daimler Group. In 2010, he became director of mechatronics at Mercedes-Benz Trucks before becoming senior VP of product engineering and technology at Daimler Truck North America in April 2020.
Dr Uwe Baake (left) has also held multiple positions at the company and can be credited for the implementation of several successful ventures. He was instrumental in expanding the global R&D centers in Woerth (Germany), Iracemápolis (Brazil); Aksaray (Türkiye) and Beijing (China) and recently set up the new Mercedes-Benz Trucks Design Center. He localized the Mercedes-Benz Actros in China and Brazil and contributed to award-winning product developments such as the new Mercedes-Benz Actros with MirrorCam, GenH2 Truck and the Mercedes-Benz eActros.
Rådström said of Baake’s retirement, “On behalf of the whole Daimler Truck Board, I would like to thank Uwe for his extraordinary commitment and great contributions over the last 28 years. He paved the way for new technologies with strategic foresight and endurance, especially in the field of low- and zero-emission technology and global platform strategies. I wish him all the best for the future.”