Let’s be realistic. So far, only Brazil has won five World Cup titles. And so far, not even those agile, sensitive, technically sophisticated, magic feet have succeeded in defending their title in the subsequent tournament.

During today's Capital Market & Technology Days in Portland, Oregon, Daimler Trucks presented two new, fully-electric trucks from Freightliner, its leading U.S. truck brand. The world's largest commercial vehicle manufacturer presented the new Freightliner eCascadia, a heavy-duty electric truck for long-distance operations (>15 t GVW) and a fully-electric variant of the Freightliner eM2 106 to cover the medium segment (9 to 12 t GVW).

As part of our Leadership 2020 initiative the "Grow the Network" tour came after stops in Heilbronn, Portland and Beijing to a fitting end in Bangkok. Impressions of a success story that will change Daimler permanently.

It was going to be the first ever and the largest one for sure! There was excitement in the air but there was also a big challenge ahead of us. DigitalLifeDay was making its way all the way from Germany to India – it was a huge opportunity waiting for us to inspire, innovate and inform 3500 of our colleagues about the mega digital trends going around in Daimler and the world in general.

Back in my schooldays, I felt that nothing was more fun than sketching. As a kid, I even sketched my car designs on the desks at school. My teachers weren’t too happy about that, but when I had an idea in my head, I simply had to put it on paper — and that’s still how it is today.

Networker, matchmaker, startup scout. A treasure hunter seeking for the one great startup within hundreds. An adventurer fighting my way through the corporate jungle to find the right colleague to connect with the Startup – this is what I’m doing at the Startup Intelligence Center.

On Friday we announced some great news: Our smart plant in Hambach, France will also produce a compact electric Mercedes-Benz of our product and technology brand EQ. And even though we’re a German car brand, this decision is based on a great tradition.

Before Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler invented the automobile life offered limited possibilities for most people: Wherever you were born was where you lived, worked and died. Europeans, for example, had a radius of action of just 20 kilometers on average.

After an exciting start to 2018 we’re now heading into the European season with races like Spain and Monaco that present very different challenges than some of the previous tracks.

During my professional career with Daimler, I have witnessed quite a few job number ones – I would say that is one of the amenities that come with my job as Head of Production and Supply Chain for Mercedes-Benz Cars. They are, however, never routine. It’s a great feeling every time that I see the first series-production vehicle of a new model series roll off the assembly line at one of our plants.