Mercedes-benz shores up service offerings
[2008-12-23 17:06:35]
The Nation
Published on June 18, 2008
Carmaker says Thailand is most important market in Asean
Mercedes-Benz says Thailand is the company's most important market in Asean.
"With the 4,000 units that we are selling in Thailand, it is our biggest market for passenger cars in the region. In the future, we also see tremendous growth here," Joachim Schmidt, president and CEO of Daimler for Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia, said at the opening ceremony of the Mercedes-Benz One Roof Centre on Bang Na-Trat Road last week.
The One Roof Centre is one site under which Mercedes has brought together warehousing, spare-parts and servicing operations. Previously, these operations were spread out over six locations in Thailand. The new facility will bring the total investment of Mercedes-Benz in Thailand to Bt660 million.
The first 5,800-square-metre building consists of the reception area, offices, central service centre, spare-parts department and a training centre.
The second 25,000-square-metre building is for predelivery vehicles and serves as a vehicle warehouse. The facility also features a test track and fuel station.
"The One Roof Centre brings together functions from our engineering and manufacturing operations, as well as combining with after-sales and servicing," said Mercedes-Benz Thailand president and CEO Wolfgang Huppenbauer.
Schmidt said the company was the market leader in the premium-car segment in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
Mercedes-Benz sold 1,850 units in the first five months of the year, up 28.12 per cent from 1,444 units sold in the same period last year. The main growth comes from the introduction of the new C-class sedan.
Mercedes has production facilities in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Each country produces the models that are required for the local market, and there is no exchange of models within the region.
Schmidt said the company was monitoring the use of alternative fuels in Thailand. While Mercedes-Benz does not have an ethanol-capable vehicle, it does sell the E-class NGT in Thailand.
"The E-class NGT is the best-selling model in the E-class range in Thailand. In the future, we'll follow our global strategy of hybrids and then finally to fuel-cell technology," he said.
