KUALA LUMPUR: Mercedes-Benz has appointed Sagree Sardien as President & CEO, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia & Head of Region, Mercedes-Benz Cars SEA II and Edmin Naidoo as vice-president of Customer Services MBC Malaysia & SEA II.
Sardien's appointment took effect on June 1 while Naidoo's was effective July 1.
She takes over from the incumbent, Dr Claus Weidner, completes his tenure in Malaysia since 2015 and Naidoo’s new role commences as Jeffrey Simon finishes his three-year term in Malaysia.
With over 20 years automotive experience and 13 years of those with Daimler, Sardien started as the Head of Operations in South Africa for Daimler’s Fleet Management division.
During her tenure, she held various leadership positions across the Daimler organisations in Fleet operations, Logistics, Sales, Product management and Customer Services, in South Africa.
In 2018, Sardien moved to Stuttgart, Germany, where she was the Head of Sales for Region Overseas markets, comprising Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Middle East, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa.
Sardien said: “I am excited to join the Malaysia and SEA II regional team. In the last few years, Mercedes-Benz has grown from strength to strength in the premium automotive segment in the region. It is an incredible and opportune time to join the company, and I look forward to contributing to the implementation of our ambition to shape the future of mobility and
support the transformation of the automotive environment.”
Sardien was also responsible for the implementation of the Retail of the Future business model in the South African market, transforming the sales environment to Model D between 2016 - 2018, where Mercedes-Benz maintained the #1 Premium Brand position in the country.
Edmin Naidoo, has been with the Mercedes-Benz brand for over 25 years, with experience in the Customer Service retail and wholesale business.
Prior to taking on the current role here in Malaysia, Naidoo served as the Director Customer Services at Mercedes-Benz Australia Pacific, preceding his 15-year stint at Mercedes-Benz South Africa.
In collaboration with the Customer Service team of Region Overseas, Naidoo was also responsible for introducing best
practice steering tools, digital KPI dashboards and Customer Services chat-bot for retailers, advancing the standards of digital transformation in the region.
Naidoo is passionate about introducing digitized concepts to the market, enabling customers and retailers to enjoy the
advantages of the Digital Service Drive Transformation.
Naidoo said: “We are entering an exciting time where innovation including data at the core allows us to create hyper-personalized ecosystems, where our customers can experience true Mercedes moments that are Best-in-Class.
“I am excited to join the SEA team to build upon our achievements in shaping the future of service products that offer our customers a Mercedes of Service Experience,” he said.
