Mercedes has today announced that it will be shifting its Indian retail business to a direct-to-consumer model called ‘Retail of the Future’ (ROTF).
According to Mercedes-Benz India, under the new business model, it will own the cars and sell them via franchise partners. The invoice of new vehicles will be sent directly to customers.
This, the German car manufacturer says offers more transparency to its customers who will also be able to avail of best price directly from the brand and experience a simplified purchase process.
The role of the franchise partners under the new Mercedes retail business model is to establish and maintain customer contacts, facilitate the sale of premium Mercedes-Benz cars and to oversee development of the market.
They (franchise partners who adopt the ROTF model) will be compensated by Mercedes, have no inventory and thereby benefit from reduced risk and also have access to a larger pool of stock cars.
By way of adopting the new retail business model, Mercedes will be responsible for managing the selling price of all new cars, owning and managing the entire stock of new cars and for order processing and fulfillment.
Managing Director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India, Martin Schwenk, has stated that a key reason for introducing ROTF in India is to “create an enhanced luxury buying experience for our customers.”
However, ROTF, which will be implemented in India from the fourth quarter (Q4) of this year, is only for new car sales and there will be no change in the brand’s customer services, pre-owned cars, accessories business and Mercedes’ current showroom infrastructure will continue to remain the same.
