Daimler Naming Judge As First Woman to Management Board

Daimler AG, the maker of Mercedes- Benz cars and trucks, plans to appoint Christine Hohmann- Dennhardt, a constitutional judge, to its management board as early as next week, two people familiar with the situation said.

Hohmann-Dennhardt, 60, is under consideration to fill a new post overseeing compliance and ethics issues at the Stuttgart, Germany-based manufacturer, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the supervisory board has yet to approve the appointment, reported Bloomberg.

The judge, who has served on Germany’s constitutional court since 1999, would be the first woman on the management board in the company’s 125-year history, one of the people said. The board currently has six members and would expand to seven with her appointment.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday called the dearth of women on the boards of German companies a “scandal” and said businesses must act to redress the gender imbalance or the government would enforce change. Merkel, Germany’s first female chancellor, rejected calls last week to establish a fixed quota to increase the number of women sitting on boards.

Ute von Vellberg, a Daimler spokeswoman, declined to comment. The court said on Feb. 1 that Hohmann-Dennhardt resigned her post.

Daimler Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche has been seeking a new executive for the job the post was created in September. Daimler, the world’s largest truckmaker and second- biggest manufacturer of luxury cars, has had periodic brushes with regulators.