James Stanford

FREELANCE motoring writer James Stanford has joined Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific as head of public relations for Daimler Truck and Bus.

Mr Stanford, who holds a heavy vehicle licence and has written extensively on the commercial vehicle industry in Australia, has contributed to various media outlets, including GoAuto, over the past eight years.

He became a freelance journalist in 2007, moving from the Herald Sun’s CarsGuide section that he had joined eight years earlier.

He previously worked as a general reporter at The Courier in Ballarat, having completed a journalism degree at Deakin University.

Mr Stanford steps into the top local PR role for Daimler’s commercial vehicle division – which covers the Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner and Fuso brands – some eight months after the company’s public affairs senior manager Geoff Paradise was killed in a car accident near his home at Matcham on the New South Wales central coast.

Mr Stanford advised that various people from different departments had been covering the PR role following Mr Paradise’s passing.

“He left such a hole that it took quite a while for them to work through how to move forward and then who to bring in to carry on the role,” he said.

By Terry Martin