German luxury car manufacturer Mercedes Benz India officially launched its retail of the future (ROTF) model, an industry-first direct-to-consumer initiative. This ‘direct to customer’ model, which was first announced in June 2021, was launched after the successful beta testing phase by Martin Schwenk, Managing Director & CEO and Santosh Iyer, Vice President- Sales & Marketing, Mercedes-Benz India, from the company’s Metro Auto Hangar dealership located in South Mumbai. The company has invested over INR 60 crore to implement the new sales model and opened various offices in different parts of the country. The overall project took 24 months, with over 200 people across India, Singapore, Germany involved in the implementation process. The luxury carmaker has registered in 22 states under GST. Under the ROTF model, Mercedes-Benz India will retain the ownership of the entire stock of cars and retail them via appointed Franchise Partners by invoicing them directly to the customers. Mercedes-Benz will also be responsible for processing and fulfilling customer orders. With the new model, the company will have a nationally set price, which will be uniform across the country.
Read Also: Is Mercedes India’s ‘Direct To Customer’ Sales Model Really Viable In India?Apart from this, customers will not have to pay any incidental charges for their purchase anymore. In addition, the customers will now have direct access to national stock, giving them higher visibility to select their desired products from across markets. The customer can book a car of his choice and block it for 14 days with a refundable security deposit of INR 50,000. The carmaker will offer the VIN number to the customer even during the order booking stage. Martin Schwenk, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India, commented, “We are proud to implement the ‘Retail of the Future’ in India after successfully establishing a robust digital backbone, which will support this significant transition in our retail business. ROTF is a unique customer centric business model, which caters to the evolving trends of our customers, while empowering our Franchise Partners by significantly reducing their financial and operational risks in the market. ROTF further supports our quest toward creating customer excellence as the Franchise Partners will now solely compete on providing a superlative customer experience.” “Customers now have a direct access to Mercedes-Benz India’s national stock with a wide variety of inventory choices. ROTF is a step in the right direction in getting closer to our customers, and a result of listening to their wishes and evolving requirements. As the most trusted luxury brand in the country, we have set a new standard in customer centricity, a new benchmark in Franchise Partners’ profitability and introduced a new culture of competing only for the best customer experience.” Schwenk added.