Marcus Ekman to join Mercedes-Benz Trucks as head of engineering from Volvo Group

Marcus Ekman to join Mercedes-Benz Trucks as head of engineering from Volvo Group Marcus Ekman, currently senior vice president of truck quality at Volvo Group, will take the reins as head of engineering at Mercedes-Benz Trucks from October this year. Mercedes-Benz Trucks is changing the leadership in its engineering division, with the appointment of Marcus Ekman as the brand's new head of engineering. The 51-year-old Swede joins from Volvo Group and will assume the role on October 1, 2026, replacing the retiring Rainer Müller-Finkeldei. The move represents a cross-industry hire, drawing talent directly from one of Mercedes-Benz Trucks' competitors in the global commercial vehicle market. Ekman brings over 25 years of senior leadership experience spanning engineering, product development and quality management – much of it accumulated operating within the Scandinavian truck industry. At Volvo Group, Ekman has served in a succession of high-profile roles, most recently as senior vice president of truck quality. Prior to that, he held responsibility for complete vehicle development and global product development at the same company. Before joining Volvo Group, he accumulated further engineering leadership experience at Scania. Through this experience Ekman has overseen end-to-end vehicle development, validation, modularisation, quality management and industrialisation across global engineering operations. He holds an MBA from Stockholm School of Economics and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Luleå University of Technology in Sweden. Achim Puchert, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Trucks, made clear the strategic importance of the hire. "We are excited to welcome Marcus Ekman to Mercedes-Benz Trucks," Puchert said. "His leadership in transformation and ability to connect technology, product strategy and execution will be essential to Daimler Truck's journey towards becoming the best truck and bus company in the world." While engineering functions typically sit outside logistics teams, their decisions have a significant influence on logistics performance and