The last fringe that Mercedes had to solve to implement the new agency model has already been solved. The star brand has reached the agreement that it has been waiting for so much to deploy the transformation of the current dealerships into brand agencies, a model that will be perfectly functional from 2023.
At the end of last August we told you about the unexpected transformation that Mercedes was planning of its dealerships, inaugurating a new sales model through the concept of agencies. In a couple of years, we will say goodbye to the traditional format for the sale of new cars, these agencies limiting themselves to being intermediaries between customers and the star brand.
The new sales model will allow set the same prices in all dealers in the same market, controlling discounts the manufacturer, although it delegates this work to the agency. But all of them will have the same room for maneuver, so now there will be no possibility of finding the same configuration of a particular model in different places. In this way, the purchase contract will be between the brand and the customer, the agency being an authorized intermediary who will act on behalf of the manufacturer, for which Mercedes will pay a commission for the services provided.
Mercedes agencies will start operating in 2023
Now, Mercedes has achieved the only fringe that was missing to begin the deployment of this transformation that, initially, will be implemented in Sweden, Austria, South Africa and India, with Germany and the United Kingdom scheduled for 2023. And, as far as we know from our internal sources, implementation in Spain is scheduled for before the middle of the decade. The fringe was pending discussions with FEAC, the European Association of Mercedes-Benz Dealers, whose employees become agents and will continue to carry out advisory work for clients. A measure that will affect both the passenger division and Mercedes Passenger Cars as well as the commercial vehicles of Mercedes Vans.
Brita Seeger, Member of the Board of Directors of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG, Head of Sales, said that “It is our concern that we achieve even closer customer loyalty to the Mercedes-Benz brand worldwide. Therefore, I am even more pleased that we have reached an important milestone for ourselves and for our partners in Europe in a next step together with the European dealer association. The starting point for the change in our sales model is the changed behavior of our customers in a digitized world.».
Seeger added that “We want to make it as easy as possible for our customers to interact with us. It doesn’t matter if it’s digital or physical. The agency model helps us to establish a perfect network of all contact points. We have ambitious goals that we want to achieve together with our sales partners: By the end of 2023, more than 50% of the new Mercedes-Benz vehicles available in Europe should be sold under the agency model».
In the same vein, Friedrich Lixl, President of the FEAC, has stated, who has pointed out that “With this agreement we are creating clear and predictable framework conditions for European trade and, together with the manufacturer, proactively face the changing conditions of the market to remain clearly ahead of the competition. such as investments and the guarantee of corporate value for agents in the future ”.