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Alabama’s Mercedes plant getting a new CEO

Tuscaloosa County-based Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI) will soon have a new chief executive.

According to Birmingham Business Journal, Jason Hoff, who has served as president and CEO of the Vance manufacturing plant since 2013 and also serves as head of production SUV/sports cars for Mercedes-Benz, has been named the new leader of quality management at Mercedes-Benz Cars worldwide.

He will be replaced in his current roles by Michael Göbel, currently head of compact cars production for Mercedes-Benz Cars.

The staffing changes, reportedly announced in conjunction with several others, are effective July 1 and just the latest example of the executive pipeline flowing between Mercedes’ Alabama operations and the company’s home base in Germany. A number of leaders from MBUSI have went on to hold major executive positions in Europe, including the Vance facility’s previous CEO, Markus Schäfer.

Göbel is already familiar with the MBUSI operation, having served as head of planning at the Tuscaloosa County plant in 2008. He started his career at Daimler in 1990 at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Mannheim and moved to Rastatt in 1994. From 1998 to 2007, Göbel held various management positions in production, planning and logistics at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Bremen, Germany, most recently as head of assembly. In 2014, Michael Göbel took over the management of the global compact car production network of Mercedes-Benz Cars.

In his new role, Hoff will remain closely associated with all Mercedes-Benz Cars production plants worldwide.

The leadership change comes at a time when MBUSI has a number of major projects in the works in the Yellowhammer State, including launching electric vehicle production and new operations in Bibb County. The plant is one of the major drivers of Alabama’s economy, as the state’s auto manufacturing sector continues to surge, with the new Mazda-Toyota plant in Huntsville under construction, too.

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

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