Mercedes-Benz confident of sustaining momentum

In a bid to bring the best experience to Chinese customers, Mercedes-Benz initiated the largest network expansion program in its global brand history, opening 106 dealers in 2014, to bring its total number of dealers to 447 in 214 cities across the country at year-end.

Nicholas Speeks, president and CEO of Beijing Mercedes-Benz Sales Service

Li Hongpeng, senior executive vice-president of BMBS, attributed the successful expansion in 2014 to several effective moves, such as tireless efforts to improve dealer relations.

"We continue to communicate well with our strategic partners under high efficiency and to ensure long-term steady cooperation with all our dealer partners," Li said.

He also expressed the company's strong willingness to build a more comprehensive and diversified dealership network instead of simply storing outlet numbers.

For instance, relying on its current 4S dealer outlets, the idea is to generate more service workshops as subsidiaries, both to reinforce after-sales service, and also to expand the high-quality service to a broader cover and benefit customers with unprecedented convenience.

"That will be another strong piece of evidence to prove our commitment in enhancing customer experience," Li said.

Mercedes-Benz has been seeking to ensure long-term mutual trust with all its dealer partners who must also be able to look to the almost century-old brand for support, Speeks said.

Alongside efforts to improve its dealer network, the final puzzle piece comes on the product side, with the brand vowing to bring a more diverse model range to Chinese customers to maintain its strong momentum.