Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (April 14): Mercedes-Benz Malaysia continued its momentum from a successful 2015 with the best ever first quarter in the premium marque's history with total sales of 2,658 units in the first quarter of 2016 (1Q16), a year-on-year growth of 41%.

Mercedes-Benz Malaysia continued to maintain its lead in Malaysia's premium automotive segment by recording a market share of 2.3% as at March 2016, marking an increase of 0.5% against a full year 2015.

"Taking pole position doesn't happen overnight. Our success comes from the combination of all our ongoing initiatives," said Mercedes-Benz Malaysia president and chief executive officer Dr Claus Weidner at the company's 1Q16 media briefing.

During the first three months of the year, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia had launched three new showrooms and four new models, introduced product experts and service differentiation.

"In the year that the Mercedes-Benz brand celebrates its 130! Years of Innovation, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia renews our commitment to the Malaysian market. We will continue to focus on key customer touch points through our dealer network. We will continuously [upgrade] our existing dealerships; and we will continue to provide customers with not only the best products, but also the best customer experience," Dr Weidner added.

Among the service differentiation includes the star lounge, premier express, door-to-door services, and drop and go.

In 1Q16, two revamped Mercedes-Benz Cycle & Carriage Bintang Autohauses were launched. A total investment of RM11 million was put in for carrying the latest Mercedes-Benz corporate identity and featuring upgraded showrooms and customer lounges, upgrading the Mercedes-Benz Cycle & Carriage Bintang Autohauses in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, and Georgetown, Penang. In the same quarter, an all-new Mercedes-Benz City Store was also introduced with a fresh new concept and customer experience which was built with an investment of RM4.3 million.

On the breakdown of the sales for 1Q16, the "bread-and-butter" model, which is the locally produced limousine segment, recorded a collective growth of 26%, delivering a total of 1,814 units. The C-class emerged as the volume leader in this segment with total sales of 1,359 units, a phenomenal growth of 871%. The locally produced E- and S-class delivered 260 units and 195 units respectively.

The compact cars segment also recorded a healthy growth of 59%, delivering a total of 664 units. The recently launched A-class led the pack, with impressive sales of 300 units, a 38% increase compared to the same period last year. The CLA maintained robust growth with a 200% increase from 1Q15, selling a total of 183 units. Mercedes-Benz's compact SUV, the GLA, also recorded a strong 77% increase during 1Q16 to 159 units from 90 units in 1Q15.

The newly launched Mercedes-Benz SUVs in January have been very well received by the Malaysian market with a total of 170 SUVs delivered to customers, comprising 121 GLC and 49 GLE units.

The striking Mercedes-Benz Dream cars line-up maintained a steady momentum in 1Q16, with 20 units delivered to customers.

Mercedes-Benz Malaysia vice president of sales and marketing, passenger cars Mark Raine said the achievement was clearly the results of a coordinated market offensive, which included the successful launch of a new SUV line, and bringing new customers into the Mercedes-Benz brand by providing a wider variety of vehicles.

"All these new products launches have driven our sales momentum but as Claus mentioned earlier, we don't stop here. We will continue with our extensive product and our investment into our product line-up for Malaysian market.

"Our aim is to provide the wide variety of premium luxury automobiles to serve Malaysian customers. In the coming months until the rest of the year, you will witness three entirely new products and a further three new models of existing product, two new engine variance and one new facelift. With these nine new products coming to Malaysia, we are very optimistic about the performance for the rest of the year," Raine added.

 

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