Winkler to Step Down as CEO of Daimler’s Smart Unit

Annette Winkler, CEO of Daimler AG’s Smart city car division for eight years, will leave the unit at the end of September.

Smart sales last year fell 7% to 135,000 units worldwide. The business, launched 20 years ago, has amassed some €4 billion ($4.6 billion) in losses since then. Daimler spent €2 billion in 2005-2006 to streamline Smart, dropping all but the original ForTwo two-seater model. The brand has since added the four-seat ForFour.

Winkler’s departure comes as Daimler prepares to relaunch Smart as an all-electric brand. Separately, the company said earlier this month that it will spend €500 million ($577 million) to prepare its Smart assembly plant in Hambach, France, to make a small all-electric car for the company’s Mercedes-Benz brand.