Mercedes-Benz Cars Middle East has appointed Thomas Klein as its new president and chief executive officer. He takes over from Mark De Haes who held the position since May 2015. Klein has extensive international experience in the automotive industry and will be responsible for all Mercedes-Benz Cars Middle East operations in the region.

He will continue to work on growing the sales and services performance across the 13 markets within the Middle East and Levant, and further strengthening the partnerships with all public and private stakeholders in the region, as well as the cooperation between the regional office and the general distributors as priorities of equal importance.

Klein started his career as a marketing specialist with DaimlerChrysler at their headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany before he joined the German sales organisation as an assistant to the managing director Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars. Since then, he has held several senior management roles within Daimler including: head of sales-strategies and methods, Berlin, Germany; head of Mercedes-Benz Retail, Wuerzburg, Germany; managing director Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars, Johannesburg, South Africa; and senior manager cross function sales, Stuttgart, Germany.

Speaking on his appointment, Klein said: “I am delighted to have joined Mercedes-Benz Cars Middle East at a time where great changes knock on the automotive industry’s doors.”