Farmington Hills, Mich. — DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Americas is relocating its corporate staffs supporting its Mercedes-Benz Financial and Truck Financial business units to a new location in Farmington Hills, Mich. The move is expected to happen after assets of its Chrysler Financial business unit is transferred to Cerberus Capital Management in the third quarter.
Klaus Entenmann, president and CEO of DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Americas, said approximately 400 employees of the company will be moving to an existing four-story office building at 36455 Corporate Drive in Farmington Hills.
Approximately 800 employees of Chrysler Financial will remain in the company’s present location at 27777 Inkster Road also in Farmington Hills. Chrysler Financial will continue to operate its eight Business Centers in major markets across the United States as well as four customer service locations.
“The professionalism and passion of our people sets us apart from our competitors in automotive and trucking industry financial services,” Entenmann said. “This move, a few miles away from our present headquarters, reinforces our commitment to Metro Detroit and keeps our headquarters for the entire Americas region right here in Michigan.”
Entenmann said the transfer of assets from Chrysler Financial to Cerberus is creating the need for more jobs in the financial services industry which will result in a positive impact on the economy of southeast Michigan.
“The transfer of Chrysler Financial’s assets will result in the creation of two separate financial services companies that previously existed as one company,” he said. “Of the estimated 200 new jobs the transfer will create throughout the entire Americas region, about 100 of those jobs will be right here in Oakland County, Michigan.”
The new location in Farmington Hills will house the corporate staffs supporting Mercedes-Benz Financial and DaimlerChrysler Truck Financial, including finance, controlling, risk management, audit, communications, human resources, information technology, legal and other departments.
Mercedes-Benz Financial will continue to operate its business centers in New Jersey and California, and its customer contact and remarketing operations in Dallas.
The Truck Financial business unit will continue to maintain its executive offices and sales, operations and customer service activities in Lisle, Ill.
Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm applauded the decision by DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Americas to keep its corporate headquarters in Michigan.
“This decision by DaimlerChrysler Financial Services — an international company doing business in 40 countries — to keep its Americas headquarters in Michigan is a signal that our work to implement an aggressive economic plan is encouraging businesses to choose Michigan for their growth,” Granholm said. “This move is creating good jobs for our workers and securing DaimlerChrysler’s presence in Southeast Michigan for years to come.”
The company will receive a $500,000 grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to use for training programs for its employees.
