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Sagree Sardien now Mercedes-Benz Malaysia's new president, CEO

KUALA LUMPUR: Mercedes-Benz Malaysia Sdn Bhd (MBM) has appointed Sagree Sardien as its president and chief executive officer, succeeding Dr Claus Weidner who helmed the post from 2015.

In a statement today, MBM said Sardien, boasting over 20 years of automotive experience, had also been appointed as Mercedes-Benz Cars (MBC) SEA II head of region.

The appointments are effective from June 1.

"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," said Sardien.

With 13 years of experience 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, the Middle East, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa.

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.  

It is also announced that Edmin Naidoo is the new vice president of customer services of MBC Malaysia & SEA II effective from July 1.

Naidoo's new role commenced as Jeffrey Simon completed his three-year term in Malaysia.

Naidoo has over 25 years experience with Mercedes-Benz brand, having 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 digitised concepts to the market, enabling customers and retailers to enjoy the advantages of the Digital Service Drive Transformation.

"We are entering an exciting time where innovation including data at the core allows us to create hyper-personalised 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," said Naidoo.

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