Mercedes-Benz USA Announces Executive Appointments

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) announced the appointment of Tobias Rist to the position of vice president & CFO, effective June 1, 2021. Rist succeeds Christian Struwe who was appointed head of sales controlling at Mercedes-Benz Cars Europe. Additionally, MBUSA announced Frank Diertl to the position of vice president, retail network development and special projects reporting directly to MBUSA President and CEO, Dimitris Psillakis, as a member of the company’s executive management team.

In his new role, Rist leads finance and operations for MBUSA. His responsibilities include finance & controlling, risk management, treasury, payroll, procurement, information technology, taxes, and facility management as a member of MBUSA’s executive management team, reporting to Psillakis.

“Tobias is an experienced and dynamic leader whose financial acumen will play an integral role in shaping our company’s path forward,” said Psillakis. “We would also like to thank Christian for his years of service to MBUSA and wish him great success at Mercedes-Benz Cars Europe.”

Now in his 17^th year with Daimler AG, Rist boasts extensive experience in a variety of finance-focused leadership positions around the world. He joined the Daimler family in January 2004 with the company’s global service and parts department in Germersheim, Germany. Two years later, Rist moved to Daimler’s sales and marketing team in Stuttgart where, in 2008, he was promoted to manager for worldwide audits. In 2011, Rist left Stuttgart for Beijing where he helped set up and manage Daimler Greater China’s new corporate audit department before moving over to Mercedes-Benz China three years later to serve as their head of planning and controlling.

Rist was appointed CFO of Mercedes-Benz (Thailand) in 2016 and subsequently CFO of Mercedes-Benz Russia in 2018. Since 2020, he has held the position of CFO at Mercedes-Benz Cars Sales Germany.

A native of Heidelberg, Germany, Rist holds a BBA in International Business Administration from the EU Business School (formerly European University) Barcelona. He also studied business at both South Bank University London and Bellerbys College Cambridge in the UK.

In his new position, Frank Diertl assumes leadership responsibility for the company’s retail network development team, adding to his existing duties. Diertl joined MBUSA in 1998 as a senior engineer, before moving on to a host of senior management positions in engineering services, customer services and aftersales business development. He moved to Stuttgart in 2016 to lead the service and parts business as well as warranty operations and customer satisfaction programs globally for Mercedes-Benz and Smart before returning to MBUSA in 2020.

Diertl and Rist, both of whom are based in Atlanta, are joined by Dianna du Preez and Nicolette Lambrechts as key MBUSA executives who recently moved into new leadership positions. Earlier this year, MBUSA announced the promotion of du Preez to vice president, customer services and Lambrechts to vice president and managing director, sales & marketing in charge of the company’s commercial vans business.

About Mercedes-Benz USA

Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA), headquartered in Atlanta, is responsible for the distribution, marketing and customer service for all Mercedes-Benz products in the United States. MBUSA offers drivers the most diverse lineup in the luxury segment with 15 model lines ranging from the sporty A-Class sedan to the flagship S-Class and the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series.

MBUSA is also responsible for Mercedes-Benz Vans products in the U.S. More information on MBUSA and its products can be found at www.mbusa.com and www.mbvans.com.

Accredited journalists can visit our media site at www.media.mbusa.com.