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Mercedes-Benz Cars has upped the ante with their Dealer of the Year Awards (DOTY) 2017. The coveted annual awards were handed over Thursday evening at a glitzy ceremony in magical Berlin – “the city of tomorrow” – against the backdrop of a superb performance by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
“Mercedes-Benz South Africa recognises that 2016 has been an extremely challenging year for the motor industry, and despite leading the luxury passenger car market for the third consecutive year, we recognize the dedication, passion and hard work our dealers have undergone to achieve these excellent record sales,” says Florian Seidler, Co-CEO Mercedes-Benz South Africa and Executive Director, Mercedes-Benz Cars.
“Awards and accolades represent the achievement of goals and targets set despite challenging market conditions. Our dealers have welcomed the benchmark performance measures we set and each measure has been selected for its impact on the customer experience and ultimately the success of their business,” adds Seidler.
The coveted top two awards:
Chairman’s Award for Best Overall Mercedes-Benz Cars Dealership: De Wit Motors
De Wit Motors Ermelo falls under the small volume dealer category on a share of national sales. This dealership has done exceptionally well by achieving the highest DOTY points, exceeding performers in both the large and medium volume dealer categories, to obtain the Best Overall Mercedes-Benz Cars Dealership award.
“De Wit Motors is a dealership that is consistently present at all Sales focus forums, conferences and meetings, and contribute constructively in all these sessions. We are pleased to say that they have done an outstanding job of focusing on all key performance measurements,” adds Seidler.
Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Chairman’s Award: Mercedes-Benz Brand Centre Gauteng West
On handing over this award to Mercedes-Benz Brand Centre Gauteng West, Joerg Essig, CEO Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, confirmed that this dealer had increased their customer volume by focusing on sourcing new customers, expanding and exploring their customer service values to retain their existing customer base. Throughout the year they significantly maintained a sense of balance between sales enhancement and financial management and achieved the highest financial results in Rand value compared to other Mercedes-Benz Cars dealers. “These amazing efforts has resulted in them leading the segment in a very competitive market,” he said.
Outstanding service to the Mercedes-Benz customer base:
Large Volume Dealer – Mercedes-Benz Cars: Brand Centre Gauteng North
Medium Volume Dealer – Mercedes-Benz Cars: Mercurius Motors
Small Volume Dealer – Mercedes-Benz Cars: Stucky Motors
Medium Volume Dealer – Mercedes-Benz Vans: De Wit Motors
“Best Performance” category winners:
• Sales Performance Mercedes-Benz Cars (New and Pre-Owned) Mercurius Motors
• Best Sales Performance Mercedes-Benz Vans United Motors
• Best Parts Sales Performance United Motors
• Best Workshop Mercedes-Benz Paarl
• Best CSI Performance Passenger Cars Mercedes-Benz Paarl
• Best MBFS Mercedes-Benz Car Dealer Garden City Motors
• Best AMG Performance – Sales to target
Mercedes-Benz Gauteng West Brand Centre
• Best ‘smart’ Sales Performance
Mercedes-Benz Gauteng North Brand Centre
• Most Improved Dealer Gariep Motors
“With new cars with pioneering design that inspire our customers and with particularly strong growth, locally and globally, we have climbed to the top of the premium segment. And we are accelerating further – with new technologies, products and services. We are delighted that our dealers have risen to the new challenges and ever-changing trends and demanding market conditions. We will continue to find new avenues to motivate our extensive dealer network to meet our customers’ varied demands,” added Seidler.
“The incentive to host the Mercedes-Benz dealer network in Berlin is to provide a historic, whilst at the same time a futuristic view of new beginnings. The dealer principals will be exposed to various new ventures in business from “Berlin Start-Ups” who reveal Berlin at its most progressive and innovative, disrupting all conventions of modern business. Although Mercedes-Benz dealerships provide the best and most lucrative opportunities already, we must continue to experience new and forward thinking ways of undertaking and managing our business. Whilst taking in the sights and sounds of Berlin with “bike mobility”, the dealers will also visit the Mercedes-Benz dealership in Berlin and the Mercedes-Benz Gallery to experience the world of Mercedes-Benz in a foreign context. These unique visits will conceptualise a new and creative way in which we can successfully do business, and this will revitalise our passionate dealers,” concluded Seidler.
The model portfolio of Mercedes-Benz – with the sub-brands Mercedes-AMG, Mercedes-Maybach and smart – is bigger and more diverse than ever before. The plug-in hybrid initiative is underway with three new models and Mercedes-Benz offers the widest range in the premium segment. Mercedes-Benz globally is now the premium brand with the strongest unit sales; in 2016, the brand, for the first time, sold more than two million cars, an increase of over eleven percent over 2015.
