MBUSA announced Thursday that the Daimler Board of Management appointed Stephen Cannon as Mercedes-Benz USA’s new president and CEO as of January 1, 2012. Cannon is replacing Ernst Lieb who held the position of President and CEO of MBUSA from September 2006 to October 2011. The announcement was made by Dr. Joachim Schmidt, executive vice president of sales & marketing for Mercedes-Benz Cars in Stuttgart, Germany, and is also who Cannon will report to.
In his new role as head honcho at MBUSA, Stephen Cannon will have overall responsibility for the Mercedes-Benz, Maybach, Sprinter and smart brands in the United States. He will lead MBUSA’s 1,700 plus employees and 356 dealers throughout the U.S.
Cannon’s most recent post was vice president of marketing for MBUSA with overall responsibility for marketing communications, market research and product management of the Mercedes-Benz and Maybach brands in the U.S.
Cannon began his automotive career in 1991 as executive assistant to the president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz of North America (predecessor to MBUSA). From there, Cannon moved to Stuttgart and joined a small team tasked with the development, manufacturing and launch of the M-Class, the first Mercedes-Benz SUV ever made in and for this market.
In the interim, before returning to Mercedes-Benz here in the U.S., Cannon served as director of marketing for debis Financial Services (later Daimler Financial Services) and then held key positions in retail and e-business consultancies. He also served as principal for The Richards Group, one of the largest independent full-service advertising agencies in the U.S. before joining MBUSA in his current position.
Cannon has a bachelor of science degree in economics from the United States Military Academy at West Point where he graduated with honors. He is a United States Army Airborne Ranger and served as 1st Lieutenant in West Germany during the fall of the Iron Curtain. Cannon and his family live in Connecticut.