German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz, a division of AG Daimler, was ranked the top automotive company in “India’s Most Admired Companies”, a survey conducted by Fortune India and Hay Group. What makes this recognition more special is the fact that it includes votes of prominent people from the Indian auto industry.
A total of ten parameters were used to rank companies, namely global business footprint, quality, innovation, corporate governance, endurance, performance, corporate social responsibility, talent management, leadership and financial soundness. This survey involved a total of 552 senior officials from selected companies, who participated to rate the credibility of their counterparts.
Expressing his views on this achievement, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Mercedes-Benz India, Eberhard Kern was quoted as saying, “This recognition by Fortune India and the Hay Group is a great honour and gives a sense of achievement for us at Mercedes-Benz India. We would like to share this moment of success with our enthusiastic team, our supportive dealer partners, the brand enthusiasts, and our valued customers. We are most excited that our peers from the automotive industry also credited our hard work and recognised our dedication towards excellence. At Mercedes-Benz India, our core philosophy of ‘The Best or Nothing’ inspires us to fascinate our connoisseurs with a superlative brand experience and helps us remain the most aspirational luxury automotive brand in India. It will be our earnest endeavour to maintain the high esteem that our brand enjoys globally.”
He also said, “The year 2013 is the year of offensive for Mercedes-Benz India, and the launch of exciting products reiterates our commitment to our discerning customers. This year, we launched products like the iconic G 63 AMG, the ultimate luxury off-roader GL-Class, pioneered the compact luxury segment with the A-Class, continued the trend by launching the most successful luxury sedan E-Class, and added a diesel offering to India’s only luxury tourer, the B-Class. We can assure customers that in the coming months we will remain true to our promises and will be fascinating them with newer products.”
The 'India's Most Admired Companies' survey was conducted for the second time. This survey, done by Fortune India and the Hay Group, comprised a distinct peer ranking methodology, covering a total of 493 companies, which were spread across 16 sectors. The selected companies had to qualify in terms of certain criteria, such as minimum number of sectoral players, GDP, growth rate, maturity, competition and national presence.
Earning the recognition of being the top ranked automotive sector company in this survey is another achievement by Mercedes-Benz. Apart from this, Mercedes-Benz India top the charts in the 'Brand Equity's Most Exciting Brands', a survey carried out by Economic Times in association with AC Nielsen. Interestingly, people aged between 18-24 years across the country took part in this poll. Winning the top spot in this survey symbolised the brand's image among young people and their aspirations to own a car from the German company.
