The first Carl Benz Academy class includes 35 students hand-picked from the employee ranks of Mercedes-Benz China who will follow a customized curriculum that includes traditional classroom learning and distance education. Additional classes of 50 to 75 students will be added each year.
“Bringing together the best, from three continents, will give our Chinese executives and managers valuable global insights and provide them with practical management tools to further the development growth of their dealerships and the Mercedes-Benz brand in China,” Klaus Maier, president of Mercedes-Benz China, said in a statement.
Woodbury professors, who will travel to Beijing at the beginning of each term and then teach digitally from Burbank, are responsible for teaching organizational leadership, self leadership and automotive and luxury brand marketing, van Niekerk said.
The Chinese students will make a trip to Woodbury University sometime during their course of study.
“Since the inception of the Carl Benz Academy, the three partners have developed an amazing bond of collaboration and mutual respect,” van Niekerk said. “Discussions are already underway between faculty for collaborative research projects. This is exactly what we envisioned as a byproduct of this relationship.”
Woodbury’s role in the specialized MBA program was born out of a long-standing relationship between its dean and Mercedes-Benz, university officials said. A market strategist and expert on luxury brands, van Niekerk has helped the automaker sells its products globally.
