Daimler Financial Services Americas Continues Re-Engineering Process with Relocation of Additional 60 Employees to Brand New Operations Center in North Texas

Mercedes-Benz Financial adding New Jersey, California employees to plans

Additional Mercedes-Benz Financial employees in place by early 2009

Executive personnel changes announced for U.S., Canada

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., May 7 -- Daimler Financial Services Americas (DCFS USA LLC) today announced that an additional 60 employees from its Mercedes-Benz Financial business unit will have the opportunity to relocate to its brand new operations center in Fort Worth, Texas, by early next year.

Klaus Entenmann, President and CEO of Daimler Financial Services Americas, and Franz Reiner, Vice President of Mercedes-Benz Financial, visited employees in the Parsippany, N.J. and Costa Mesa, Calif., business centers last week to explain the decision.

"We strongly believe that this strategic decision will create greater opportunities for employees and help us improve service to our dealers and customers," Entenmann said. "Additionally it will contribute to a lower cost structure and bring together the national knowledge base of our organization."

As part of its re-engineering strategy in the Americas, Daimler Financial Services will expand its current Westlake Customer Service, Collections and Remarketing operations of the Mercedes-Benz Financial business unit to include similar disciplines for the Daimler Truck Financial business unit, which will be relocating its operations from Lisle, Illinois, later this year to Fort Worth.

"When we move into the new building, we will have about 650 employees at the Texas location," Entenmann said. "Of that amount, roughly 230 employees will represent new jobs in North Texas with approximately 100 people relocating from our Truck Financial office near Chicago and other locations. The additional 60 employees from Mercedes-Benz Financial will move in early next year to bring us to around 710 employees at that location."

Reiner said the company is creating a financial services powerhouse at one location that will reduce complexity and increase efficiencies.

"This will create a large talent pool where our people will have a wide range of career opportunities in both the luxury car market and the medium and heavy duty trucking industry," he said. "Most importantly, they will not have to re-locate all over the country during their careers. We will be able to share best practices between the two business units to maintain our high levels of customer service."

Reiner added that Mercedes-Benz Financial would maintain its successful dealer-focused alignment with Mercedes-Benz USA by keeping its four Regional Sales Managers co-located in MBUSA regional offices in New Jersey, California, Florida and Illinois.

Insight Research of Dallas, an independent research group, has projected that Daimler Financial's plans for the new 160,000 square-foot facility at AllianceTexas, near Fort Worth, would pump approximately $115 million into the North Texas economy in the first 12 months of operations and roughly $48.5 million annually going forward, based on the size of the facility and the capacity for 800 employees. Insight Research specializes in economic impact reports and cost benefit analyses for cities, municipalities and government agencies.

As a result of these decisions, the following personnel changes are effective June 1, 2008:

  Brian Fulton, currently Managing Director for the Mercedes-Benz Financial
  East Business Center in New Jersey, will relocate to Canada and be the
  President and CEO for the company's Canadian organization, succeeding
  Rodolfo Dominguez.

  Rodolfo Dominguez will be dedicated to the company's global strategic
  project as the lead executive in the Americas region.

  Mark Ingram, currently Managing Director for Mercedes-Benz Financial West
  Business Center in California, will become Vice President Sales and Field
  Operations in the United States and relocate with the teams to Texas.

  Chris Kaefer, currently Vice President Mercedes-Benz Financial Marketing,
  has taken a new assignment with the Mercedes-Benz Bank in Germany as Vice
  President of Strategic Sales for the bank.

  Andreas Hinrichs, currently Vice President Operations, will succeed Kaefer
  as the Vice President for Mercedes-Benz Financial Marketing.

  About Daimler Financial Services Americas (DCFS USA LLC)

Daimler Financial Services Americas (DCFS USA LLC), headquartered in Farmington Hills, Mich., provides brand-specific financing for Mercedes-Benz automotive dealers' inventories and their retail customers, and conducts business in the United States luxury car market as Mercedes-Benz Financial. In the U.S. trucking industry, Daimler Financial Services Americas conducts business as Daimler Truck Financial and finances Daimler commercial vehicles branded Freightliner, Sterling and Western Star for dealers and their customers in the fleet, vocational, municipal and owner/operator segments. Daimler Financial Services Americas serves as the headquarters for operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, and has approximately 1,600 employees. Daimler Financial Services Americas is a company of the Daimler Financial Services Group, headquartered in Berlin, Germany, which operates in 40 countries with an employee base of close to 6,800. Daimler Financial Services is one of the leading financial services organizations worldwide. For more information visit DAIMLER .