New Mercedes-Benz Vehicles Now Available on the Internet
19 September 2000
New Mercedes-Benz Vehicles Now Available on the Internet
* Approximately 8,000 new passenger cars on the Internet
* New vehicles delivered to customers within a week
BERLIN, Sept. 19 DaimlerChrysler has become the first auto
maker in Germany to sell new cars over the Internet. Online customers can
take their pick from a total of more than 8,000 passenger cars from the full
Mercedes-Benz range -- including the new C-Class, the SLK roadster, the M-
Class and S-Class, and the exclusive CL coupe. Several selection criteria
such as model, color, equipment, and price help customers choose their
vehicles quickly and easily. Once the model has been selected, a Mercedes-
Benz sales partner contacts the customer within 24 hours and arranges for
delivery within at most one week. The Internet site can be found at
http://www.mercedes-benz.de , under the category Passenger Cars.
"The Internet offers a whole new range of fascinating sales and marketing
opportunities beyond conventional sales channels," says Eckhard Panka,
managing director of the DaimlerChrysler Sales Organization Germany (DCVD).
"We don't just want to sit around and talk about these wonderful
possibilities. Instead, we plan to gather some real experience in order to
determine exactly what potential opportunities the Internet offers for a high-
involvement product like the automobile.
The decisive thing about an online sales campaign for our customer focus
strategy is that it gives us the chance to directly target those customer
groups that are not just using the Internet as a source of information but are
also potentially willing to make a purchasing decision at the click of a
mouse."
Dr. Joachim Schmidt, divisional board member for Sales and Marketing
Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars, adds: "Redefining the way in which customers can
order our vehicles was an important milestone for us. Together with the
consistent further development of e-commerce, it underscores our leading
position in the automotive industry. What we need to do now is to build upon
this successful policy and incorporate all the other opportunities offered by
e-commerce."
Further Internet activities from Mercedes-Benz:
360 viewing of all Mercedes-Benz passenger car model lines
Visitors to the Mercedes-Benz Internet site are now able to obtain a detailed
view of all the passenger car models from the Mercedes-Benz range online and
from every angle -- both inside and outside. When inspecting the body shell,
for example, the vehicle can be fully rotated on its vertical axis with the
help of the computer mouse. In the interior, users can steer a virtual camera
so that it provides exactly the perspective they require. In addition, a zoom
function can be used to magnify up to 16 times any image of the vehicle
exterior and interior. This allows potential customers to take a close-up
look at, say, the fine texture of the leather upholstery used in the vehicle.
Online configuration plus downloadable price lists
Introduced in the middle of this year, a special online configuration
allows customers to put together the Mercedes-Benz vehicle of their choice
from a range of 10,000 or more different combinations. The configuration tool
tests whether the customized vehicle is in fact "buildable" -- i.e.
technically feasible -- and also lists the basic and final price. At present,
an average of more than 10,000 vehicles per week are configured online in this
way.
In addition, users are able to download the price list for the models of a
particular production series. A special price finder function also offers
potential customers the opportunity to specify how much they want to pay and
then lists the model or models available at that price.
Big supply of used vehicles
For those people looking for a used vehicle, the Mercedes-Benz site also
features a wide-ranging list of passenger car models of all makes and price
categories. This also covers the company's central inventory of Mercedes-Benz
used cars, including one-year-old vehicles from company employees and ex-fleet
vehicles returning from large customers. Any vehicle requested from the
central inventory will be delivered within five working days free of charge to
the nearest Mercedes-Benz partner, irrespective of where the customer happens
to live in Germany.
Mercedes-Benz dealerships and sales partners on the Internet
Since March 2000, the DaimlerChrysler Sales Organization Germany has been
providing Mercedes-Benz dealerships and sales partners with an online
editorial service that ensures uniform use of corporate design elements and
also helps them personalize their individual Internet offerings. Special
dialog functions can be used to process queries concerning service
appointments, consultations and test drives, or to order brochures. Today,
more than 500 Mercedes-Benz partners throughout Germany are using this
Internet platform.