Johan Swart was named vice president and chief information officer at Mercedes-Benz Financial Services – a signal of the company’s increased focus on digital innovation – the company said in a press release Monday.
The announcement comes on the heels of Rodolfo Dominguez’s appointment to vice president of business transformation and chief digital officer, which Auto Finance News first reported in September.
“Our focus on talent development has created a strong leadership bench that is fueling our success for sustainable business transformation,” Peter Zieringer, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Financial Services and regional head of Daimler Financial Services Americas, said in the release. “Rodolfo and Johan will set a strong precedent in finding innovative digital solutions that benefit our dealers, customers and employees to enhance the Mercedes-Benz Financial Services and Daimler Truck Financial brands.”
Johan Swart succeeds Udo Neumann, who was recently named global chief information officer for the global financial and mobility services division of Daimler AG. Swart will oversee 400 employees and direct the company in “overall IT strategy, resource planning, budgeting and operational initiatives for the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina.”
Swart began his career with Mercedes-Benz South Africa in 1998 as a business analyst in the IT division before serving as CIO in the country, where he “led the full integration of information technology management functions for the company’s various IT units.” He most recently served as senior manager of IT applications management.
Dominguez and Swart worked together in the past to replace the company’s core contracting management systems and innovate for the future, the company said.
These appointments continue a string of announcements from the company that emphasis digital innovation, including a partnership with the financing app AutoGravity for both loans and leases. At the Auto Finance Summit last week, the company was even awarded an Auto Finance Excellence Award for its launch of the Digital Transformation Office.
