▁and ▁serving ▁as ▁President ▁and ▁CE O ▁of ▁the ▁production ▁subs idi ary ▁Mer cedes - B enz ▁U . S . ▁International ▁Inc . ▁( MB US I ), ▁R ensch ler ▁switched ▁to ▁the ▁corpor ate ▁headquarters ▁in ▁Stuttgart , ▁where ▁he ▁was ▁appointed ▁Senior ▁Vice ▁President , ▁Executive ▁Management ▁Development ▁at ▁Da im ler Ch rys ler , ▁the ▁company ▁that ▁had ▁recently ▁been ▁formed ▁through ▁the ▁mer ger ▁of ▁Da im ler ▁and ▁Ch rys ler . ▁ ▁R ensch ler ▁was ▁President ▁of ▁smart ▁GmbH ▁from ▁ 1 9 9 9 ▁to ▁ 2 0 0 4 . ▁He ▁stabil ized ▁the ▁small ▁car ▁brand , ▁cut ▁costs , ▁and ▁opened ▁up ▁new ▁mark ets ▁in ▁Asia . ▁Today , ▁the ▁smart ▁brand ▁is ▁the ▁market ▁leader ▁in ▁Germany ’ s ▁micro - car ▁segment ▁and ▁an ▁integral ▁part ▁of ▁the ▁Da im ler ▁division ▁Mer cedes - B enz ▁C ars . ▁ ▁In ▁addition ▁to ▁his ▁respons ib ilities ▁at ▁smart , ▁R ensch ler ▁was ▁assigned ▁to ▁the ▁M its ub ishi ▁Mot ors ▁Corporation ▁( MM C ) ▁in ▁Tokyo ▁in ▁spring ▁ 2 0 0 4 ▁in ▁order ▁to ▁assess ▁the ▁strateg ic ▁and ▁oper ational ▁options ▁for ▁M MC ▁within ▁the ▁Da im ler ▁Group . ▁As ▁a ▁result ▁of ▁this ▁assess ment , ▁Da im ler ▁terminated ▁its ▁invol vement ▁in ▁M MC . ▁ ▁On ▁ 1 ▁October ▁ 2 0 0 4 , ▁R ensch ler ▁was ▁appointed ▁a