Mercedes-Benz USA Announces Key Executive Appointments
Monday, May 22nd, 2023
Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) announced today, three executive appointments to its U.S. leadership team. Melody Lee was appointed Chief Marketing Officer, Heike Scheuble was named Managing Director, Mercedes-Benz Vans and Jee-Seop Kim was announced as Head of Customer Services. All three executive roles will be based in Atlanta, Georgia.
“I am incredibly excited to further strengthen our U.S. executive leadership team with the broad expertise that Melody, Heike and Jee-Seop bring to Mercedes-Benz USA’s Marketing, Vans and Customer Services business areas. With these new appointments, we are poised to accelerate our path to become the most desired luxury electric brand in North America, and reinforce our commitment to our customers and dealer partners.”
-Dimitris Psillakis, Head of Marketing and Sales, Mercedes-Benz Cars North America and CEO of MBUSA
Melody Lee, Chief Marketing Officer
A proven marketing executive, Melody Lee joins MBUSA from global design company MillerKnoll, where she served as Senior Vice President of Global Brand & Product Marketing, leading brand strategy across Herman Miller and Knoll’s products, channels and audiences. Prior to MillerKnoll, Lee was the Global COO for design communications agency Camron and Vice President for Brand Development with beauty brand Shiseido. Lee served two executive roles at luxury automotive brand Cadillac, including Global Brand Director of BOOK by Cadillac and Director of Brand Marketing during her six year tenure. Before joining Cadillac, Lee was Executive Vice President at PR agency Hill+Knowlton Strategies. Lee assumes her new role from previous CMO Drew Slaven, who retired from MBUSA earlier this year. Melody is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology and will begin her new assignment effective July 1.
Heike Scheuble, Managing Director Mercedes-Benz Vans
Previously responsible for Sales Vans, Heike Scheuble is promoted to Managing Director, Mercedes-Benz Vans USA. Scheuble succeeds Nicolette Lambrechts, who was promoted to Head of Sales & Marketing Mercedes-Benz Vans Region Overseas earlier this year.
With a profound expertise in Customer Service and Sales, Heike Scheuble is central to the current and future business development of Mercedes-Benz Vans in the U.S. Scheuble began her career with Daimler-Benz in 1980, holding leadership positions in various business units. With a move to the U.S., Scheuble led the warranty team at MBUSI in Vance, Alabama. After returning to Germany, Scheuble led the Product Management Service & Parts team at smart gmbh, eventually moving to assume responsibility for Aftersales Market Management at Global Service & Parts from 2005 to 2013. In 2014, Scheuble was charged with global responsibility for Aftersales Market Management at Mercedes-Benz Trucks.
Scheuble joined the MBUSA Van team in December 2015 as the General Manager, Van Customer Service & Parts, leading the unit to sustained profitable growth in the U.S. and Canadian markets. Scheuble assumed U.S. responsibility for Sales Vans in 2019, adding vehicle logistics to her portfolio 2022.
Jee-Seop Kim, Head of Customer Services
Jee-Seop Kim was appointed as Head of Customer Services of Mercedes-Benz USA, succeeding Dianna du Preez, who retired from MBUSA earlier this year. Kim began his career with Mercedes-Benz Korea (MBK) in 2002 as a management associate and a founding member of MBK in the Sales & Marketing department. From 2008 to 2014, Kim headed the Planning and Product Strategy team, driving diversification of MB product portfolio and achieving substantial volume growth.
From 2015 to 2021, Kim headed the Customer Services department at MBK, earning numerous awards from service quality groups as a consistent leader of Customer Satisfaction. In 2021, Kim returned to the Sales function at Stuttgart, Germany HQ as head of Sales Market Management for the top five markets of Region Overseas, and was integral in the EV transition for the associated markets.