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On the road
STUTTGART, Germany (CNN) -- As the man in charge of Mercedes Benz passenger car division, Jurgen Hubbert knows a thing or two about travelling on the road. With meetings throughout the Stuttgart region, Hubbert spends about two hours in a car each day, including his 20 minute commute to the Sindelfingen office, 30 kilometres from the company headquarters. And with meetings around the world, he estimates he flies about 1 million kilometres a year. "In the morning I prepare for the day, where you go through all the agendas and you try to make sure what you want to achieve over the day," Hubbert said. Having joined DaimlerChrysler as an engineer in 1973, he sees his experience as valuable when relating to his staff. "They know my career, they know everything that I went through, from the bottom through the different layers. I'm one of those people called 'car guys', meaning, starting with the car, living with the car, knowing all the technical details," Hubbert said. "They know there's someone at the top who's guiding us and who knows where our business is going." His long history with the company has given him "a chance to write a small chapter in the book of a 100-year successful brand and company." "It's something that only a very few people experience in their life and therefore I'm happy that I have such a chance," Hubbert said. As Hubbert is also CEO of Maybach, he has responsibility for resurrecting the car to the luxury reputation is enjoyed in its heyday of the 1920s. It sells from $300,000, with the short Maybach 57 for personal driving, and the longer Maybach 62 chauffeur-driven. Both models have a maximum speed of 250 kmh. Hubbert expects to break even with the Maybach project within six years. "It's something I would call a business jet on wheels. It offers the ultimate luxury and it offers a lot more space." DaimlerChrysler research showed there was a global market of 8,000 customers who could buy luxury car brands. "If you want to relax when you come out of a meeting, you're a little bit angry maybe, not satisfied, you lay down, you hear the music, you look into the air, you can relax within a few minutes," Hubbert said.
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