Mercedes to directly sell cars to clients

October 22, 2021 09:10 pm | Updated October 23, 2021 01:16 am IST - MUMBAI

File Photo

File Photo

German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz on Friday implemented its customer-centric ‘Retail of the Future’ (ROTF) ‘direct- to- customers’ business model which is expected to benefit all stakeholders, the company said.

First announced in June 2021, this business model has been rolled out after the successful beta testing phase, it said adding it has invested Rs 60 crore to make it operational.

In this new format Mercedes-Benz India will retain the ownership of the entire stock of cars and retail them via appointed ‘franchise partners’ (dealers), by invoicing them directly to the customers.

The company will also be responsible for processing and fulfilling the customer orders. With ROTF, there will be one nationally set price by the company, which will be uniform across the country, it said.

Martin Schwenk, MD and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India said, “ROTF is a unique customer centric business model, which caters to the evolving trends of our customers, while empowering our franchise partners by significantly reducing their financial and operational risks in the market.”

“ROTF further supports our quest toward creating customer excellence as the franchise partners will now solely compete on providing a superlative customer experience,” he said.

“For the first time in India, there are no incidental or extra charges for the customers. Customers now have a direct access to Mercedes-Benz India’s national stock with a wide variety of inventory choices,” Mr. Schwenk added.

Now a car can be booked by paying ₹50,000 and then the order completion should occur over the next 14 days. He said 1,700 cars had been booked under this format.

The company clarified that ROTF will be applicable only for new car sales and not alter the functioning of separate business lines, including customer service, pre-owned cars and allied businesses.

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