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DaimlerChrysler Forms New Group to Buy Business Goods and Services

21 September 1999

DaimlerChrysler Forms New Group to Buy Business Goods and Services For Dodge, Chrysler, Plymouth and Jeep(R) Dealers

    AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Sept. 20 -- DaimlerChrysler
today announced the formation of "Five Star Market Centers," a new group that
will use the Corporation's leveraged buying power to purchase goods and
services for its Dodge, Chrysler, Plymouth and Jeep(R) dealers.
    Set to debut in the fourth quarter of this year in the Indianapolis
metropolitan area and to be rolled out nationwide in 2000, Five Star Market
Centers are expected to cut fixed business costs for the Corporation's U.S.
dealer body as a whole by up to $1 billion, or by $500 per vehicle, while
giving dealers a new tool for success in an increasingly competitive
marketplace.
    "Five Star Market Centers take the concept of partnering with our dealers
to a whole new level," said James P. Holden, Executive Vice President of Sales
and Marketing.  "We're not just giving lip service to supporting the
individual entrepreneur; we're giving dealers the ability to buy as an
aggregate.  This will give the dealers the ability to leverage our purchasing
power and reduce their expenses in the process."
    Market Centers will be administrated by DaimlerChrysler's Auburn Hills
procurement, sales and marketing staffs utilizing a Web-based, menu-approach
system.  Dealers will be able to access the system from a personal computer
and select from a wide range of business products, including health care,
telephone services, Internet services, advertising, computer equipment,
maintenance, uniforms and office supplies.  By grouping dealers according to
122 major markets in the U.S., the Corporation will be able to tailor some
service contracts to local economies of scale, including such items as
maintenance and telephone services, while still taking advantage of negotiated
national contracts.
    "Our dealers are on the front line of a changing marketplace, with profit
margin pressures coming from a variety of new and aggressive sources,
including the Internet and consolidators," said John MacDonald, Senior Vice
President, Sales and Service.  "They need the tools to thrive in this dynamic
environment.  The Five Star process keeps them in tune with the changing
consumers; Market Centers will help them cut costs, which will translate into
a competitive advantage."
    More than 1,600 U.S. Dodge, Chrysler Plymouth and Jeep dealers in the U.S.
are Five Star certified, with another 400 expected to achieve certification by
1999 year end.  The services provided by Market Centers will be available to
all of DaimlerChrysler's 4,450 dealers initially, although dealers who wish to
remain in the program must become Five Star certified within 24 months of
joining Market Centers.