The contract of Wolfgang Bernhad has been extended until 2018 by Daimler — the German automotive group. Although this move was long expected, the official declaration only came recently. In a statement, Manfred Bischoff — chairman of Daimler’s supervisory board said that “This management continuity is important for the ongoing consistent implementation of the division’s strategy and for the achievement of our corporate goals.” A trusted lieutenant of Dieter Zetsche (Daimler CEO), Bernhard is considered to be the successor to Zetsche. The new contract runs until Feb. 28, 2018.

In 2009, Bernhard, who was serving as the chief operating officer in Chrysler returned to Daimler after being pushed out of the company. He then opposed the move of former CEO Juergen Schrempp to spend a lot in Mitsubishi’s turnaround. Demoted for such an action, he then moved to Volkswagen to lead the core VW brand. There, he worked for less than a year as he clashed with VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech. Once he returned to Daimler, he moved away from public eye and has since taken on a more low-key profile to running Mercedes Benz cars, including the Mercedes and Smart brands. He has been active in developing an array of small cars that Mercedes badly needed to meet tighter emissions standards and to draw the attention of younger users.

via Autonews