Holger Scherr is leaving Daimler Truck for SuperPanther
China’s electric truck manufacturer SuperPanther has appointed Dr. Holger Scherr to its European management team. As Executive Vice President Europe, Scherr will be responsible for expanding and growing the company’s business in Europe. This appointment is considered a major coup for SuperPanther, as Scherr is joining the startup from Daimler Truck.
Image: SuperPanther
According to his new employer, Scherr brings decades of leadership experience in the commercial vehicle industry, “including many years at Daimler and Daimler Truck.” At SuperPanther, he will work closely with Dr. Michael Ruf, SuperPanther’s President Europe. His role is specifically to develop SuperPanther’s business in Europe.
Scherr has also been deeply involved with China recently — as head of a Daimler Truck joint venture. The manager took on the role of President and CEO at Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive Co Ltd in 2021, and most recently served as a member of the Executive Committee at Mercedes-Benz Trucks. According to Scherr’s LinkedIn profile, his 20-year-plus career at Daimler and Daimler Truck concluded in April 2026. With today’s announcement, his next destination is now clear: SuperPanther.
The Chinese electric truck manufacturer praises the new top manager’s leadership skills and expertise in vehicle development, global logistics, supply chain management, and business operations. It highlights that “Scherr led the establishment and localization of Mercedes-Benz’s truck business in China, played a key leadership role in the Actros development program, and was responsible for the Zetros development program.”
The transition occurs at a time when SuperPanther is moving from trial production to series manufacturing. Along with China, Europe is SuperPanther’s first market. The company itself is only about four years old. The eTopas 600 has been produced in series at Steyr Automotive in Austria since July 2026. Since the summer, the first series vehicles have been delivered to customers, including DHL Freight, with orders from Hugelshofer and Gartner also being public. By the end of 2026, SuperPanther plans to deliver around 100 vehicles to European customers, and a total of 1,000 by the end of 2027. For maintenance and spare parts, the company works with service partner Alltrucks and operates two spare parts warehouses in the EU.
"Customer operations show that the eTopas 600 is performing very well in Europe. What’s crucial now is to structure production, service, and sales in such a way that they can keep up with growth," emphasizes Dr. Michael Ruf, President Europe. "We are very pleased that Dr. Holger Scherr is joining the SuperPanther team. He has experience with this task from working at major commercial vehicle manufacturers, covering everything from entering new markets to achieving full production readiness. With his expertise, we strengthen our ambition to establish a solid position in Europe."
At IAA Transportation, SuperPanther unveiled its electric tractor unit to a large audience in Europe for the first time. We spoke with Frank Schulz, the company’s European sales manager, about the first customer deployments, fuel efficiency figures, Dual-CCS as a bridge to MCS, and the plan to scale up production to several hundred units. His assessment of the economic viability of electric trucks was particularly insightful. Watch the video interview here.
_Source: Information via email_, superpanther.eu, linkedin.com