Mercedes-Benz China changes leadership, bidding farewell to the "Duan Jianjun era"
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Author | Chai Xuchen
Editor | Zhou Zhiyu
Benz’s first local executive in China is about to leave.
On February 14, Mercedes-Benz (China) officially announced: Duan Jianjun has resigned as President and CEO for personal reasons. Starting March 1, the baton will be passed on to current Executive Vice President of Sales, Daniel Lescow.
As the first locally-born CEO in Benz’s history in China, Duan Jianjun’s departure seemingly signifies the end of an era. This has raised a wave of questions: Replacing a Chinese executive with a German one—does it mean Benz’s proud “localization” strategy is retreating? The answer is—no.
Duan Jianjun’s time at the helm was during Benz’s most complicated period in China.
From Vice President of Sales to CEO, Duan Jianjun had been deeply involved in the Benz system for many years. His most distinctive label is his unique “marketing aesthetics.” At every new car launch, he could always quote the classics, delivering eloquent speeches. This style, during the era of fuel vehicles, enhanced Benz’s brand premium and made the “three-pointed star” a totem admired by the middle class.
During his tenure, although Benz’s sales in China faced challenges, they always maintained resilience. Especially during 2023 to 2025, confronted with the aggressive incursion of new players in the luxury market and the impact of the “price war,” Duan Jianjun did his utmost to uphold Benz’s price system and brand dignity.
However, the market wind has shifted.
As the penetration of new energy vehicles surpassed 50%, or even higher, relying solely on brand legacy and marketing rhetoric was no longer enough to withstand the tide of intelligentization. In a sense, Duan Jianjun’s departure symbolizes Benz’s completion of the “brand asset moat” construction stage in China. Going forward, due to a fundamental restructuring of industry logic, Benz needs a more direct, more hardcore way to mobilize global resources and break the impasse.
If Duan Jianjun was “the Chinese who knows Benz best,” then his successor Daniel Lescow may be called “the German who knows China best.” He is not an envoy parachuted from Stuttgart with no knowledge of China. On the contrary, his core professional achievements were almost all attained in the Chinese context.
Lescow was deeply involved in Smart’s brand revamp. Smart’s electrification transformation is a model of joint cooperation between Benz and Geely. During this process, Lescow not only needed to comprehend Benz’s brand tone, but also to deeply integrate with Geely, a Chinese private enterprise.
While serving as Executive Vice President of Sales at Benz Sales Company, Lescow also spearheaded a critical move—digitalization.
In China, the traditional 4S dealership model is collapsing, while Tesla and new forces are changing user habits with direct-sale models. Lescow strongly promoted digital transformation during his tenure, bridging the gap between online and offline, and began teaching Benz to engage directly with users like the new forces.
This shows he is not only familiar with the workings of the Chinese market but also has profound insight into China’s unique digital ecosystem.
Therefore, Lescow is the best choice after Duan Jianjun’s departure. He understands the global logic of Stuttgart headquarters and holds the keys to access technical and financial resources; meanwhile, he knows the “jungle rules” of the Chinese market.
According to Benz's 2025 financial report, last year Benz sold about 575,000 new cars in China, a year-on-year decrease of about 19%. At the earnings conference, Benz Board Member responsible for Greater China, Oliver Thöne, stated: “China will continue to be Benz’s most important single market globally,” but future development will focus more on value chain optimization and local profit improvement.
At this moment, China operations have already been elevated to a board-level strategic priority. According to internal sources, in 2026, Benz will launch more than 15 new and facelifted models in the Chinese market—the most intensive product offensive in the company’s history. As planned, in 2026, Benz will launch over 15 new and facelifted products in China.
Looking back now, Duan Jianjun’s departure and Lescow’s appointment can be seen as marking Benz’s “localization strategy” in China entering version 2.0.
Over the past ten years, localization for multinational car companies mainly meant people and marketing: hiring Chinese executives, telling Chinese stories, making long-wheelbase versions for the market. Today, however, the core of localization has become R&D and the supply chain. As China fully leads in electric and intelligent technology, Benz needs not just people who can sell cars, but those who can merge Chinese technology with German mechanical quality.
The Chinese market now is the “eye of the storm” for Benz’s global transformation. In this market, long decision chains are the fatal flaw of traditional car companies.
With a trusted German executive like Lescow who has been on the frontlines in China at the helm, the biggest advantage is the reduction of communication costs. He can more directly convey the urgency of the Chinese market to the board, and strive for more R&D authority and resource tilt. This is a kind of “structural localization”—making China truly the global R&D second pole, not just a sales center.
Currently, the biggest crisis Benz faces is the loss of dominance in the definition of luxury. Lescow’s first task upon taking office is not to maintain, but to attack. He needs to accelerate the localization of Benz’s R&D center’s results. Sources close to Benz told Wallstreetcn, “The role of such managers is never to turn the steering wheel back, but to keep accelerating on the set course.”
The Chinese auto market in 2026 is far beyond the era where foreign brands could profit easily. Although BBA’s (Benz, BMW, Audi) aura remains, the sense of crisis is unprecedented.
This change in leadership is also a deep organizational adjustment by Benz to adapt to the “new normal” of the Chinese market. Duan Jianjun completed his watch and transition during the brand’s peak period, while Lescow shoulders the responsibility of leading Benz’s breakout in the second half of intelligentization. Under Lescow’s leadership, Benz needs to deliver smarter products that better understand Chinese users while still maintaining Benz standards.
In the business world, only evolution is the best footnote to real localization.
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