by Keiichi (RSS feed) July 29th, 2010 at 6:09 am
Let’s take a peek at what’s in store for Mercedes-Benz, shall we? The image you see above is the company’s way of stating what the next stage of their design is going to be. The art sculpture, made entirely of resin, was inspired heavily by Mother Nature, as well as the art deco style back in the 1930s.
You’re all very familiar with the way cars nowadays, not only Mercedes-Benz, are styled in a sort of forward-leaning wedge shape. Looking at the sculpture, it seems the company is leaving the edgy path and headed into a more smooth, natural design language.
When interviewed about the art sculpture, Mercedes-Benz Design Chief Gorden Wagener gives an example of a car that bears the kind of looks his design studio is after—the 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Autobanhnkurier. Even the downward sloping cut of the design reminds you of the 1930s where wide rolling fenders were the trend.
If you think about, Mercedes-Benz was trying to state their intention in its purest sense, and that’s why they decided to use an art sculpture to express what they have in mind. Kind of cool, don’t you think? No concept cars, just the design to speak for itself.
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by Keiichi (RSS feed) July 23rd, 2010 at 9:41 am
Wondering what to do for your next summer vacation? How about being part of Mercedes-Benz’s biggest summer holiday programme yet? To be held in its brand experience center around Weybridge, Surrey, the event offers several attractions that are sure to win the hearts of Mercedes-Benz fans everywhere.
To begin with, the Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy will be setting up guests to drive along with 2008 Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton. It’s not going to be a leisurely drive though, as Lewis is unlikely to take things easily behind the wheel. If you win, though, no doubt you will be immortalized as the guest who beat Lewis Hamilton to the checkered flag. That’ll be the event’s highlight. A series of challenges will see who gets to team up against Lewis in the finale.
Off road lovers, meanwhile, will be able to take the M-Class for a spin outdoors—all 10 acres of it—alongside a professional driver manning the secondary controls to the SUV. This attraction is appropriately called the Kids 4×4 Driving Experience, probably to bring out the outdoor-loving kid in you.
Dubbed the ‘Summer Challenge’, it will all boil down to a hundred top scorers who’ll be returning on September 4 in teams to compete in the Grand Finale with Lewis. So suit up and get your family in high gear. It’s going to be one big summer party with Mercedes-Benz.
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by Keiichi (RSS feed) July 8th, 2010 at 1:12 am
The month of June proves to be the best month as of yet for Mercedes-Benz, with the company having sold 113,000 units as compared to 100,300 in 2009. With the 13 percent increase in sales all over the globe, the company surpassed even their own expectations. Looking at their semi-annual sales figure from January to June this year, the company was able to increase by as much as 15 percent as compared to last year, selling 556,700 units in contrast to the 483,300 vehicles sold in the first half of 2009.
Executive Vice President for Mercedes-Benz Cars Sales and Marketing Dr. Joachim Schmidt is happy that his company was able to bump up sales with a double-digit percentage for the eighth month in a row. They were able to improve sales in every region all across the globe, crediting much to the success of their E and S Class vehicles. Schmidt adds that the company is well on its way to do even better for the rest of the year, beginning with the third quarter. Schmidt also accounted the American and Chinese markets for the huge boost in sales.
The record-breaking performance in June is largely credited to the immense progress Mercedes-Benz is having in China. As many as 13,700 vehicles were sold, registering a 177-percent increase from last year’s 4,900 units.
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by Keiichi (RSS feed) June 30th, 2010 at 11:54 am
Today marks the beginning of a new charity drive between Mercedes-Benz and the China Youth Development Foundation, or CYDF. Under the name of Mercedes-Benz Star Fund, the account has an initial amount of RMB 30 million and has began furnishing 125 music classrooms all across Hope Schools in China to give around 40,000 rural children proper music education.
The fund runs with the slogan “Nurturing the World of Tomorrow,” and serves as a basis for Mercedes-Benz’s five core CSR pillars, namely environmental protection, arts and music, sports, driving culture and other causes such as disaster aid projects. This new drive is proof that the company does not only sell cars—they’re very much involved in customer relations as much as setting a sustainable cause model.
Daimler Northeast Asia Chairman and CEO Ulrich Walker agrees that the fund does not only represent the company’s CSR efforts, but as well as their huge interest in the Chinese market right now which makes up quite a big chunk of the Earth’s population. Various international entities such as UNESCO, NCPA and CTA have all recognized the emergence of the Mercedes-Benz Star Fund. With their latest charity drive, it’s safe to say that Mercedes-Benz will keep doing business in China for years to come.
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by Keiichi (RSS feed) June 30th, 2010 at 11:48 am
Here’s your shot at being formally trained by Mercedes-Benz. As an extension to the company’s current Mercedes-Benz Driving Experience program—previously called Active Safety Experience—the Australia-Pacific Division of Mercedes-Benz is proud to announce the opening of First Gear, a program geared towards training the younger drivers who are licensed and aged 24 or below. If there’s anything the program will promote, it’s safety—part of the company’s lists of duties as a premium car manufacturer.
Managing Director for Mercedes-Benz Australia-Pacific Horst von Sanden boasts that his company is in fact already a pioneer when it comes to developing safety in their vehicles. Sanden adds that the First Gear program is aimed at helping the company in achieving vehicular safety, a responsibility not solely owned by Mercedes-Benz engineers. The program is designed to impart and improve driving fundamentals in young drivers by specifically working on their attitudes and awareness on the road.
The lessons to be taught in the program are include: basic car operations, pre, mid and post-driving risk recognition, danger identification and avoidance, maintaining a safe distance from other vehicles, identification of bad attitudes and behaviors behind the wheel and education on technological advancements to educate clients in buying a car. Also included are: vision and steering techniques, tailgating lessons, braking during emergencies on both wet and dry surfaces, evasive driving, ABS braking, driving with and without electronic stability systems, plus presentations of the company’s various technologies such as Distronic Plus, Night View Assist Plus and Parking Guidance.
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by Keiichi (RSS feed) June 25th, 2010 at 2:33 am
Are you happy with your Mercedes-Benz? Well, according to a study by the highly-renowned J.D. Power and Associates Index on the Satisfaction of Car Buyers, you are. It’s amazing how research companies can read your mind, isn’t it?
According to their large-scale survey, the car brand with which people—well, Germans mostly—are most satisfied is none other than Daimler’s brainchild. A lot of their success it seems stems from the popularity of the C-Class and the CLK, which also won in their respective categories under the same survey. What all this means is that Mercedes-Benz owners such as yourself are the most satisfied motorists in all of Germany.
The survey was done with the premise that ‘customers know best’ when it comes to which car brand truly satisfies their needs—whether be it for transport or simply ownership. It’s actually the second time around that this particular survey was conducted, and involved 16,330 drivers in the whole of Germany who had to tap on their experiences in driving German automobiles. But they first had to pass a screen test to make sure they were worthy contributors to the study. The requirements for survey participants included two years worth of experience driving their own car, and should have had at least 34,000 kilometers on the odometer. And they had to judge their responses based on their car’s quality, reliability, attractiveness, and service and maintenance costs.
Well, it looks like Mercedes-Benz has done a pretty outstanding job so far with their cars AND their clients.
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by Keiichi (RSS feed) June 23rd, 2010 at 10:25 am
Never falling short of international awards, Mercedes-Benz has just received another prestigious trophy for their MBSA production plant down in East London. The plant, which manufactures the C-Class for both the local market and export to the US, has actually won the same award once before. The award, bestowed by none other than JD Power and Associates, is actually based on their US Initial Quality Study, or IQS for short.
Mercedes-Benz has won the award by beating its own previous record. The MBSA plant won the 2009 IQS Gold Plant Quality Award last year for manufacturing vehicles for US export that had the fewest defects and malfunctions among all the plants in the whole of Europe and Africa. This year, MBSA won the award for beating each and every single manufacturer that produces vehicles for the US market—registering only 28 defects per 100 vehicles made.
MBSA President and CEO Dr. Hansgeorg Niefer received the award crediting much of their success to the ‘brilliant quality’ of their employees and processes. Meanwhile, EMEA Operations Vice President Brian Walters of JD Power and Associates acknowledges the winning story of the MBSA plant, attributing the achievement as the result of the company’s extremely strict quality management processes.
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by Keiichi (RSS feed) June 11th, 2010 at 4:13 pm
Recently kicking off its “The best or nothing” campaign, Mercedes-Benz is looking to get lots of attention for its future models—both new and upgraded—that will be launched in 2010 and 2011. The campaign will reach far and wide, involving most of its employees who will be acting as ambassadors for the three-pointed star, cutting through print, broadcast and online media.
The main highlight of the brand campaign is to show to the world Mercedes-Benz’s redesigned logo—a three-dimensional star that’s surrounded by glistening chrome—along with the new tagline “The best or nothing”. Explains Mercedes-Benz Executive Vice President for Cars Sales and Marketing Joachim Schmidt, the company pioneered not only the automobile itself but a lot of other advancements in technology—safety cell, antilock braking system, airbags and ESP, and patent safety systems such as ‘PRE-SAFE’—that are ‘taken for granted’ today.
Thus, Schmidt expects nothing less than producing high standards to appease their client’s equally high expectations. Whether that’s in research and development, manufacturing, sales, aftermarket service, business or purchasing, Mercedes-Benz will strive for leadership.
As for the upcoming models, the company is set to catapult the launching of 16 models—these include the Smart Fortwo Electric Drive, the B-Class F-Cell and the A-Class E-Cell—along with many other surprises. Also in store are new models for the compact segment, plus three-series model lines with alternative drivetrains.
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by Keiichi (RSS feed) June 11th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Proud parent company Daimler AG is looking at a very positive year for Mercedes-Benz, predicting that their luxury car brand—the world’s 2nd largest premium car manufacturer—will accelerate at double its current sales rate, besting the entire luxury car market put together. A large chunk of credit has to be given to China, being the biggest market for this year. First quarter sales in China alone increased by 100 percent compared to last year’s first quarter earnings.
Mercedes-Benz chief of sales Joachim Schmidt is hopeful that his company will at least grow 7 percent. That goal is not too far off, especially with the premium car market already increasing 3 to 4 percent since the first quarter. Taking things one step at a time, Schmidt is eyeing for a good run this 2nd quarter.
Compared to its rivals, Mercedes-Benz scored a 17-percent sales increase for the month of May alone, selling 101,400 vehicles. Audi was only able to grow by 15 percent, while BMW—also a German premium car manufacturer—only grew by 11 percent. Again credit goes to China, which is the world’s largest market for luxury cars.
When asked about their immediate plans, Schmidt declined to expound further than saying Mercedes-Benz is about to campaign its new image. We’ll just have to see what that is all about.
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by Keiichi (RSS feed) June 4th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
What do you do when your job no longer excites you or pays you enough? You quit – plain and simple. That’s exactly what Citroen UK’s Gary Savage did when offered a high spot at Mercedes-Benz Cars UK. Savage is set to replace Dermot Kelly, whose last day falls at the end of June.
Savage, who is just half a month away from celebrating his first year with Citroen UK, lead the marketing and brand development team for Russia since June of 2009. Even before that, he was also sales and marketing boss for Audi UK. So you could say he’s gone around the industry quite a few times.
Mercedes-Benz UK President and CEO Wilfried Steffen recognizes Savage’s credentials, having delivered remarkable results to both Audi and Citroen in the past. Having convinced the boss himself, Savage has been appointed to join the Mercedes-Benz team in UK.
Part of Savage’s new job description in Mercedes-Benz is to head the implementation of passenger car strategies in order to boost sales and bring customer service and professionalism of dealers to the highest level according to brand values. Basically, he’s been hired to continue and hopefully improve what Kelly had started.
Citroen North Europe Sales Director Christopher Musy has taken over as interim marketing and brand development head whilst Citroen UK finds a replacement for Savage.
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