Iconic German car manufacturer, Mercedes-Benz, seems to be upping the ante in the Indian car market as it looks to strengthen its after-sales service in the country. The company is primarily targeting smaller cities in order to improve upon its market share. As told by the company, it will be introducing new assistance programmes in order to lure more buyers. Also to mention, the brand with three badged star is line to bring all new services that include diagnosing problems of cars through satellite by experts based in Pune in order to assist technicians anywhere in India.
Besides this service, many other ones were launched under 'My Mercedes' programme, in which customers can avail 24 hours on-road assistance service and can book the service of their vehicles from smart phones and tablets by scanning the QR (Quick Response) codes. Commenting on this, Devdutta Chandravarkar (Vice-President After-Sales & Retail Training) said, "With the market opening up in tier II and III cities, we need to have service available there for our customers. The technology available in our vehicle is very advanced and we need to develop technician who can handle it."
Adding further, he said that the company's National Remote Diagnostic Centre in Pune is actively working on a programme in which experts can solve problems of its vehicles anywhere in the country using a satellite aided connection. Using this feature, technicians at various services centres can take help of experts based in Pune if some major problem persists in the any of the vehicle.
Chandravarkar said, "By the end of the year, this will be extended to our dealers in Surat, Ludhiana and Nashik". He also told Mercedes-Benz India is aiming to implement this service in 43 centres, which are located across 32 cities. As far as after sales services are concerned, Mercedes-Benz saw a 23 per cent rise in the number of cars serviced with the figure touching more than one lakh units this year.
While stressing on building up a strong after-sales service, Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Eberhard Kern, said "So far in the first nine months of the year we have posted 31 per cent sales growth in a difficult environment. While we are happy with that, we also want to enhance what we offer in after sales, which is the other important aspect of our business."
In the meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz posted a 31 per cent increase in sales for the January to September period this year as the figures stood at 6461 units opposed to 4938 units in the same period last year. While in case of year-on-year growth, the Indian wing of German car maker registered 58 per cent increase, selling 2696 units. During the month of September 2013, it sold 1011 units against the same period previous year's figure of 654 units. Commenting on this good showing, Kern said “company is optimistic of posting good numbers in the fourth quarter also as the October numbers so far have been promising.”
