The Three Pointed Star launches a new Pre-Owned car brand in India: ‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’ Celebrates the launch with the inauguration of a record 12 new pre-owned outlets in a single day
- The new brand developed specifically for the Indian market
- Fastest roll out ever of any luxury pre-owned car brand in India with 12 outlets
- Most extensive Pre-Owned sales network with over 150+ display bays; to be expanded to 250+ bays by 2015 end
- Digital car evaluation system with 124 point check: standout attribute
- Salient features: hassle free documentation, verified service history, attractive trade-in and finance options
- Strong potential in the segment with Mercedes-Benz witnessing 39% growth in the Jan-Sep, 2014 period
Mercedes-Benz today launched its new Pre-Owned car brand, ‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’ in India. The launch of the new brand was celebrated by the simultaneous inauguration of 12 new ‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’ outlets across India. ‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’ will provide customers a new destination for taking home a Mercedes-Benz car. The new brand will provide the pre-owned car customers an experience equivalent to a new car purchase, offering class leading facilities, infrastructure, tailor-made financing options, exciting warranty and service packages.
Eberhard Kern, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India, commented on the occasion, “We are delighted at launching this new brand which is designed specifically for the Indian market. There has been an increased demand for the pre-owned Mercedes-Benz products due to their superior build quality, tested reliability, and impeccable craftsmanship, leading to their high re-sale value. Mercedes-Benz enjoys a strong equity in the market and with ‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’ we will cater to this growing demand and delight the customers with excellence, which is synonymous with the Three Pointed Star. This has been a successful year for us and we are happy to end it on a high with this launch.”
‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’ will directly connect with the customers ensuring their easy access to the pre-owned cars. The new warranty offerings, a new website, iPad sales software, specially trained staff of over 100 consultants, will ensure a differentiated product buying experience for the customer. All the sales consultants in these outlets would be using ipad equipped with our own isales app; which is an interactive, innovative and intelligent tool to ensure a pleasant and unique sales experience to the customers in all the showrooms across India. Also the new certification procedures along with the technical equipment for more accurate evaluation of vehicles and data management software will ensure complete peace of mind for the customers.
“We have launched 12 new ‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’ outlets today. This makes us the luxury manufacturer with the densest network, in the pre-owned segment as well. With ‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’ we aim to further organize the pre-owned car market and offer our customers an experience, similar to the new car customers. There is immense potential in this segment and it will be a key to future growth of the auto industry. Mercedes-Benz witnessed 39% growth in 2014 YTD in the pre-owned cars segment. With attractive trade-in and financing options and complete peace of mind on offer from ‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’, we anticipate this segment to grow further driving the sales of new cars as well.” Mr. Kern further added.
Simultaneously launched today, the 12 new ‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’ outlets are: Shaman Wheels, Auto Hangar (Mumbai), Sundaram Motors, Akshaya Motors (Bangalore), B.U. Bhandari (Pune), Panjab Motors (Mohali), T&T Motors (West Delhi), T&T Motors (Mathura Road), Joshi Autozone (Chandigarh), Rajasree Motors (Cochin), Transcar (Chennai), Adishwar Motors (Hyderabad). Of these Shaman Wheels, Auto Hangar and Sundaram Motors are stand-alone outlets while the other outlets are shop-in-shops, where an exclusive showroom and display within the existing facility provides the best customer experience with ‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’. These shop-in-shop outlets will also be upgraded into standalone facilities for ‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’ when required, based on the business volumes.
The cars enlisted under ‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’ will be selected based on quality checks by trained Mercedes-Benz staff and follow stringent global standards. Every car will need to pass the following parameters: the age of the Mercedes-Benz car will need to be less than 5 years, should have run less than 100,000 kilometers, have no accident history and does not have more than 2 owners. The car will then be available for sale to customers under a manufacturer backed warranty of one year or 20,000 kms. Non Mercedes-Benz cars will be sold without warranty.
Every pre-owned car customer has different expectations and different needs. ‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’ offers fascinating product to the customer which fulfills all of their needs, including finance options from Daimler Financial Services, at very attractive rates and with hassle free paperwork.
‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’ is being launched with a pool of more than 150 pre-owned Mercedes-Benz cars, which will be available at dealerships across India. Beginning with the metros which are currently the bigger markets, ‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’ will spread to tier II and tier III markets which are emerging markets. Currently ‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’ has 150+ sales bays in its network and it will be extended to over 250+ bays by the end of 2015. We have also introduced the ‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’ website. The website is interactive and provides a host of benefits to the customers: it helps in searching for vehicles of their choice, helps in calculating finances, allows trade in facilities and caters to the online enquiries. It also provides customers the opportunity to give their feedback so that the requisite steps can be taken.
‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’ will also provide an opportunity for customers to trade-in their non Mercedes-Benz car for a Mercedes-Benz, from the brand’s fantastic range of sedans, SUVs and AMGs. The customer will also be assured of the right price for their pre-owned car through transparent evaluation and complete peace of mind with hassle free documentation.
With ‘Mercedes-Benz Certified’, pre-owned luxury car customers will have the opportunity of accessing the best services facility which is synonymous with the Three Pointed Star. With warranty and unique service packages the customers will not only have a competitive total cost of ownership but a complete peace of mind.
About Mercedes-Benz India:
Established in 1994, Mercedes-Benz India Pvt. Ltd. pioneered the luxury car market in India and boasts of more than 128 years of cutting edge innovation in the luxury automobile industry globally. With a world class production facility spread over 100 acres in Chakan, near Pune, set up in 2009 and an independent assembly facility for passenger cars; the facility is among the fastest green-field operations ever to be created and is rated among the top most CKD plants of Mercedes-Benz, globally. Mercedes-Benz India product portfolio comprises the locally produced S-Class, E-Class, C-Class, GL-Class and the M-Class. Completely Built Imported cars include the A-Class, CLS-Class, SLK-Class and the luxury tourer B-Class etc. The product portfolio also comprises offering the iconic off-roader G 63 AMG as well as a wide range of other AMG performance cars like the CLA 45 AMG, C 63 AMG, E 63 AMG, SLK 55 AMG, GL 63 AMG, ML 63 AMG and GLA 45 AMG. Mercedes-Benz India’s strong focus on its four pillars of Products, Network, Cost of Ownership and Brand experiences has led the company’s growth story with a total of 68 outlets located in 37 Indian cities, making it the brand with the densest network in the luxury segment.
The year 2014 is Mercedes-Benz India’s ‘Year of Excellence’ across the brand, product and services spectrum. Mercedes-Benz grew by 16% in Q3, 2014 amidst challenging market dynamics and also grew by 47% in FY2013-14 selling 9500+ cars in India. In line with ‘The Year of Excellence’ Mercedes-Benz launched its flagship model the new S-Class in January 2014 in India and followed with the launch of S500 CKD and the S 350 CDI in March 2014 and June 2014 respectively. Mercedes-Benz India celebrated 50000th car roll out with the C-Class GRAND EDITION. At the 12th Auto Expo, Mercedes-Benz launched the M-Guard- special protection SUV for the Indian market and also showcased the CLA 45 AMG and the much awaited GLA-Class. The company also launched GL 63 AMG and the ML 63 AMG to present the most powerful SUVs in its segment. Mercedes-AMG also inaugurated three AMG Performance Centers (APC) in Delhi, Bangalore, and Mumbai making it the fastest roll-out of APC’s ever.
Mercedes-Benz also launched the CLA 45 AMG in July at the Buddh International Circuit as AMG is synonymous with the race track owing to its superlative performance and next generation research and development. Mercedes-Benz India also launched the GLA-Class and the GLA 45 AMG range of SUVs marking a strong presence in the luxury SUV segment. The performance aspect of AMG brand is highlighted at its best on the Formula 1 track. First Silver Arrows driver to claim title since Juan Manuel Fangio in 1955. 16 wins, 18 pole positions, 11 one-two finishes and 31 podiums for the 2014 Silver Arrows in the first season of the new hybrid era in Formula 1.
Mercedes-Benz India also emerged as the most awarded luxury automotive brands in 2013, receiving as many as 16 coveted awards from various prestigious automotive media introducing exciting products for the Indian customers. As part of its qualitative network expansion strategy, Mercedes-Benz has already inaugurated 14 new outlets in 2014 at Bhubaneshwar, Raipur, Bhopal, Mohali, Chandigarh, Kochi, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Nashik, Kanpur, Surat, Karnal, Chandigarh and Madurai.
