What Daimler’s Finance And Global Chiefs Revealed About Diesel, Driverless Trucks, And The Future Of The Industry

On a rainy Saturday morning in Charlotte, inside the brand new North American headquarters of Daimler Truck Financial Services, four of the company’s senior leaders traded the usual press-conference script for something closer to a fireside chat, and over the better part of an hour they said more about where this industry is actually heading, from the engine under your hood to the driver who may one day not be in the seat to the rising cost of borrowing money against a truck, than most carriers will hear in a year of official announcements. The panel brought together a rare mix of global and local perspective. Eva Scherer, chief financial officer of Daimler Truck Holding AG, carried the worldwide view. Stephan Unger, chairman of Daimler Truck Financial Services, which operates across 21 countries, spoke to how the financing side of the business is changing. Kevin Bangston, president and CEO of Daimler Truck Financial Services USA LLC, handled the view from the United States, Canada, and Mexico.