Cannon Appointed Vice President of Marketing for Mercedes-Benz USA

Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) announced today the appointment of Steve Cannon to vice president of marketing for MBUSA, effective June 25, 2007. Cannon was most recently principal for The Richards Group, one of the largest independent full-service advertising agencies in the U.S.

In his new position, Cannon will be a member of MBUSA's executive management team with overall responsibility for marketing communications, market research and product management of the Mercedes-Benz and Maybach brands in the U.S. He will report to Ernst Lieb, president and CEO of MBUSA.

Cannon began his automotive career in 1991 as executive assistant to the president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz of North America (predecessor to MBUSA). From there, Steve moved to Stuttgart and joined a small team tasked with the development, manufacture and launch of the M-Class.

In 1998, Cannon moved to the financial services arm as director of marketing for debis Financial Services (later DaimlerChrysler Financial Services). Cannon left DaimlerChrysler Financial Services in 2000 for key positions in retail and e-business consultancies including Proxicom/Dimension Data. In June 2002, he joined The Richards Group.

Cannon has a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the United States Military Academy at West Point where he graduated with honors. He is a United States Army Airborne Ranger and served as 1st Lieutenant in West Germany during the fall of the Iron Curtain.

Cannon, his wife and children, live in New Canaan, CT.