Chennai

Santosh Iyer, currently the Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz India, will become the first Indian to head the luxury car maker's India operations as its Managing Director and CEO from January 1, 2023.

Associated with Mercedes-Benz India since 2009, Iyer, 46, has been in leadership roles across diverse functions including sales, marketing, customer services, internal communications, and CRM.

Iyer took over as the Vice President, Sales and Marketing in July 2019, and led Mercedes-Benz's digital transformation of business and achieved the highest ever-online sales penetration.

He also laid a strong foundation for Data Analytics and pioneered online sales with its share exceeding 15 per cent of total sales.

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A graduate in commerce from Mumbai University, Iyer is a MBA from University of Indianapolis and holds a Masters in Corporate Governance and Compliance from the University of Lake Konstanz, Germany.