Mercedes-Benz Vans names Sara Gielen to lead Operations as Elke Pusskeiler prepares to exit
Sara Gielen, who runs production at Mercedes-Benz's Sindelfingen plant, will take charge of Mercedes-Benz Vans Operations on 1 December 2026, succeeding Elke Pusskeiler after more than 35 years with the group.
- 1 December 2026
- 31 January 2027
- more than 35 years
- more than 20 years
What Happened
Sara Gielen will take over as head of Mercedes-Benz Vans Operations on 1 December 2026. She moves from the Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen, where she is currently head of production and site manager. She succeeds Elke Pusskeiler, who will leave the company on 31 January 2027 for personal reasons and by best mutual agreement after more than 35 years with the group.
Sara Gielen joins Mercedes-Benz AG and takes charge of production and site management at the Sindelfingen plant.
Gielen becomes head of Mercedes-Benz Vans Operations.
Elke Pusskeiler leaves the company for personal reasons after more than 35 years with the group.
Gielen joined Mercedes-Benz AG in mid-2024 and has since been responsible for production and site management at Sindelfingen. Before that she spent more than 20 years in various leadership positions in the automotive industry. In her current role she is responsible for the future-oriented alignment of the production area in Sindelfingen, the launch of the new S-Class and preparations for the ramp-up of Mercedes-AMG's future fully electric models.
“With Sara Gielen, an internationally experienced production manager takes responsibility for Mercedes-Benz Vans Operations. Thanks to her many years of production and international management expertise, she will play a major role in shaping the further development of the global production network of Mercedes-Benz Vans. She has already demonstrated her leadership strength and her ability to successfully implement complex transformations several times in responsible positions. I am very much looking forward to her bringing her experience to Mercedes-Benz Vans.”
Klein said Pusskeiler helped shape the development of Mercedes-Benz over more than three decades and left her mark on numerous areas. During her time at Mercedes-Benz Vans she successfully drove the further development of the global production organisation and strategically aligned the production network for the future, with the successful start of production of the VLE at the Vitoria plant as a significant milestone. He thanked her warmly for her outstanding achievements and tireless commitment to the success of Mercedes-Benz Vans, and wished her all the best for her new phase of life.
- All production-related areas: manufacturing, engineering, logistics and quality management.
- Production sites in Germany, Spain, Poland and the USA.
- Additional capacity through cooperation partners in China.
Why this matters
Vans Operations covers every production-related area — manufacturing, engineering, logistics and quality — across plants in Germany, Spain, Poland and the US, plus cooperation partners in China, so whoever holds the job shapes how vans such as the new electric VLE are built. The changeover is spread over two months: Gielen starts on 1 December 2026, while Pusskeiler stays until 31 January 2027. Workers and suppliers tied to that global production network are the people most directly affected.
Terms in This Story
- VLE
- The new electric van model from Mercedes-Benz built on the company's new van architecture.
- Operations
- The part of a manufacturing company responsible for running production; here it covers manufacturing, engineering, logistics and quality management across the van business's plants.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.