German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz on Monday launched its globally benchmarked pre-owned car programme — Proven Exclusivity — in India. This unique initiative utilises specific global benchmarks for vehicle evaluation, quality and warranty to offer Mercedes-Benz certified pre-owned cars to customers.
Launching the programme here, Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director and CEO Wilfried Aulbur said the pre-owned cars would be offered for sale through the authorised Mercedes-Benz dealerships where the customer would receive additional support in areas such as financing, documentation and delivery.
“Through our pre-owned programme, customers can own a Mercedes Benz for as low Rs.15-18 lakh as against Rs.26-28 lakh for a brand new, entry-level C Class model,” he pointed out. “Comprehensive evaluation and refurbishment criteria, scientific tools for audit and inspection as well as manufacturer backed warranty go into the making of a certified ‘Proven Exclusivity' vehicle,” he said.
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Mercedes-Benz will initially offer this scheme in six dealer outlets across four cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh — and add another 6-8 outlets by this year-end.
“We hope that the pre-owned car business will account for 10-15 per cent of its car sales by 2011,” Dr. Aulbur added. The pre-owned car market in India is estimated at about 10-15 per cent of current new car sales in 2010 and estimated to grow substantially in the next couple of years.
The company is also planning to hire about 250 engineers for its research and development centre in Bangalore.
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