Smart Keeps A Woman In Charge, Names Katrin Adt As New CEO

Female chief executives are still a rarity in the automotive industry – but there are a few to be found. General Motors, for example, is lead the Mary Barra. And Linda Jackson runs the Citroën brand for the PSA Group. Daimler’s Smart brand has been steered until now by Annette Winkler, but will now be lead by another woman.

The head office will soon be occupied by one Katrin Adt, a nineteen-year veteran of the Daimler group. Adt previously headed Smart’s sales department, and served as Daimler’s vice president of human resources.

“Katrin Adt has years of international experience,” said Mercedes sales chief Britta Seeger – another senior female executive within the group. “With her experience in various management positions in sales and marketing and the companywide management culture initiative Leadership 2020, she will steer smart into a successful future.”

46-year-old Adt takes over from Winkler, 58, who ran the Smart division for the past eight years and has been with Daimler for 23 years. Dr. Winkler will hand over the helm to her successor at the end of September, but will remain part of the group as a board member in South Africa.

“One of the key responsibilities of every executive is to pass on leading positions to the next generation at the right time. “And that time has now come,” Winkler said upon the announcement of her departure. “With my endless passion for Smart and the people behind it, this decision was not easy for me. I am all the more pleased that I can now support the handover to a successor. “

The change comes as Smart shifts away from internal combustion and towards exclusive electric propulsion, marking an historic shift for the brand which Daimler co-founded with Swatch chief Nicolas Hayek in the mid-’90s and subsequently took over completely. Smart launched the current Fortwo and Forfour in 2014, building on Daimler’s continuing partnership with Renault.