Mercedes-Benz India takes the BEST step forward

Having recorded sales of more than 10,000 units in calendar year 2014, Mercedes-Benz India wants to ensure that it Lives the Best. So, for 2015 Mercedes-Benz India announced its strategy founded on its brand philosophy of ‘Best or Nothing’. The growth strategy is built on 5 key initiatives with an aim to provide the ‘BEST’ to its customers through BEST products, BEST operations, BEST touch points, BEST customer experiences and BEST corporate citizenship.

Thus, ‘Live The BEST' will be the new driving philosophy for Mercedes-Benz India in 2015 to achieve the objectives of growing a profitable and sustainable business in India and to extend its customer focused approach.

In a press release issue on January 9, 2015, Eberhard Kern, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India commented, “Mercedes-Benz continues an aggressive growth strategy in 2015 by committing to ‘Live the BEST’ which is integral to the founding philosophy of the brand: ‘BEST or Nothing’. Enriched product portfolio, future ready operations, BEST customer experience, enhanced touch points and efforts to be a responsible corporate citizen will be the catalysts in propelling the company towards its objective. We want our consumers to ‘Live the BEST’ with Mercedes-Benz in 2015 and beyond.”

BEST Products: Mercedes-Benz will introduce 15 products in 2015, including products with no predecessors in India. These 15 new products are Mercedes-Benz India's biggest product initiative till date. The aim is to not only retain the loyal patrons attached with the brand, but also winning new young customer groups aspiring for a Mercedes-Benz. The products will be feature rich variants, keeping in line with the company’s strategy of bringing the right products at the right price.

BEST Touch-points: The product offensive will be supplemented with an aggressive network expansion during the year. Another 15 outlets will be inaugurated in mature as well as tier II and III cities, in continuation with the ‘go to customer’ strategy. This will be the highest ever in a year for the brand in India and will continue to further expand the densest luxury car network in India.

Mercedes-Benz India has called this initiative ‘15 in 15’ wherein it will launch 15 top of the pyramid products and a record 15 new world class new outlets, in 2015.

BEST Customer Experiences: Mercedes-Benz will take luxury to different cities through the year with an innovative and unique brand experience platform called ‘LuxeDrive’. Through this initiative aspirational and potential consumers will get an opportunity to experience adrenalin, gourmet and haute couture at one luxury venue. The LuxeDrive will travel through 15 cities across the country. Participants will have the opportunity to drive the range of Mercedes-Benz cars including sedans, SUVs and AMGs through specially designed courses. This experience will be amplified by the BEST gastronomic experience with Michelin Star Chef Vikas Khanna, who will create an exotic menu for the events in each city and interact with customers. This luxury experience will be rounded off with some luxury retail therapy with the luxury apparel partners.

An exclusive service package for the New Generation Cars will ensure a cost of ownership starting as low as Rs. 1.99/ kilometre. One of the new highlight offerings will be the unmatched interest rate of 9.99 pc for New Generation Cars.

BEST Operations: Mercedes-Benz India will continue its aggressive strategy in its operations as well with an additional investment for capacity expansion in the Chakan Plant, taking the total investment to over Rs 1000cr.The extended facility has secured the necessary clearances and will begin production by June of 2015. With this expansion, the plant will now have a capacity of 20,000 units per year, the largest for any luxury car manufacturer.

BEST Corporate Citizen: With the aim of giving back to society, Mercedes-Benz India has collaborated and initiated a variety of social initiatives so far and will continue to engage further in newer projects during this year. Mercedes-Benz will further invest into its Roof Top Solar Plant and help in protecting and preserving resources. The company will make additional investments to further increase the capacity of the solar plant to 10 times of current capacity by 2016. Mercedes-Benz will also further strengthen its Advanced Mechatronics course in northern India based on the Public-Private Partnership model. This will be an extension of the present association with Government Polytechnic, Pune and Government Polytechnic, Aurangabad. This partnership is a milestone on the path towards modernization, practical relevance and flexibility of vocational education and training in India.