Mercedes-Benz Korea named Britta Seeger, 44, as its new chief executive to become the first foreigner and female to head operations here, the company said on Sunday.

Seeger’s prior work experience includes senior manager at the Daimler Group headquarters in Germany.

The newly appointed CEO is expected to start her work in March, the company said, to take over from the late Thomas Urbach who passed away in November last year.

Seeger’s career at Daimler began in 1992 at the sales division of the company headquarters. In 2000 she was promoted to senior management for the automotive e-retail and customer connect business, and in 2003 she moved to the Marketing of Global Service & Parts division to take up key positions including Product Management in After Sales and Service Operations.

Before Seeger, the head of Volvo Korea had been the first female to serve as chief executive at a foreign automotive company. Seeger will therefore not be the first female chief executive, but the first foreign female to head a foreign automobile brand in Korea.

Industry sources said the appointment was based on Mercedes-Benz’s anticipation for Seeger to guide the company back to its feet with her expertise in customer relations and after-sales services as the company battles with lackluster sales.

Last year, Mercedes-Benz sustained its place as the second-best-selling foreign brand in Korea after BMW, but its on-year growth rate of 4.4 percent fell far behind BMW’s 20.9 percent and Volkswagen’s 47.9 percent. Audi also had a much higher growth rate of 46.2 percent from 2011.

In particular, Volkswagen was able to close the growth rate gap with Benz to 2,000 units ― less than half of the 7,000 units recorded in 2011.

Seeger, as the new head, will have to address these issues, along with long-standing allegations that the company’s second-largest shareholder Hansung Motor, which is also the official dealer, has been receiving favors when selling Benz vehicles.

By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)