MAN CEO Announces Unexpected Resignation

The CEO of MAN, Europe's third biggest truck-maker, has announced his surprise resignation from the head of the company with immediate effect. According to a company press release, Hakan Samuelsson will be replaced on a temporary basis by Georg Pachta-Reyhofen, who will continue his own duties as CEO of the MAN Diesel unit. In the MAN statement the 58-year-old Samuelsson said he was leaving the company at his own request, but he declined to give a reason for his departure. The statement did, however, say, "Samuelsson hopes that his decision will help the MAN Group to quickly devote all of its attention to its core business and its further development. He is convinced that there should be a fresh start at the highest level of the company." This appears to be a clear reference to the recent bribery and corruption scandal that has afflicted MAN, which involved alleged bribes in the region of 16 million euro (US$24 million) in order to win a number of international truck and bus contracts. In May prosecutors began an investigation, which is still ongoing, into the scandal (see Germany: 7 May 2009: MAN Begins Probe into Bribery Allegations).

In the second half of 2006 Samuelsson attempted to lead a takeover of Scania, Europe's largest truck-maker. He was forced to abandon the bid in January 2007, however, after Scania investors, which included the Volkswagen (VW) Group, turned down MAN's offer of 10.3 billion euro (see Europe: 24 January 2007: MAN Aborts Scania Hostile Bid, Seeks Amicable Merger). VW then stepped into the breach and acquired a 67.7% stake in Scania, and also became MAN's largest single shareholder.

Many analysts believe that Samuelsson's lack of enthusiasm for a fully integrated heavy truck company involving MAN, Scania, and VW Trucks—a strategy spearheaded by the head of VW's supervisory board, Ferdinand Piëch—is at the heart of his departure. According to IHS Global Insight's head of global truck research Roman Mathyssek, Samuelsson's resignation has more to do with corporate politicking than the recent bribery scandal. He said, "He [Samuelson] never played along with the move towards an integrated truck group under the leadership of Volkswagen." With regard to the bribery scandal, Mathyssek noted that this provided an opportunity to instigate a change of management at the head of MAN.

Outlook and Implications

While the reasons for Samuelsson's departure may not be quite as presented, there is no doubt that the bribery allegations have weakened his position at MAN. That said, the timing of his departure is somewhat unusual considering that, according to the Financial Times (FT), he was intending to present a comprehensive internal investigation of the bribery scandal at a supervisory board meeting in only two weeks' time. Samuelsson commissioned an independent report on the scandal with the help of a law firm. There is no question of any wrongdoing on his part, but under German law a chief executive can be fined—but not charged—even if he bears no personal responsibility. Nevertheless, it appears that there are other factors behind Samuelsson's departure, including friction over Piëch's heavy truck strategy.