Mercedes-Benz Announces Construction of First 'Service Center'
26 September 1997
Mercedes-Benz Announces Construction of First 'Service Center' Conveniently Located, Service-Only Facilities
MONTVALE, N.J., Sept. 26 -- Mercedes-Benz of North America,
Inc. (MBNA) announced that it will break ground today in Sacramento,
California, on the first of three pilot Mercedes-Benz Service Centers. The
Service Centers are freestanding facilities which will be situated in
convenient locations to provide top quality, competitively priced routine
services and associated parts for Mercedes-Benz owners.
The Service Centers will be built and operated by authorized Mercedes-Benz
dealers but will focus solely on routine service (i.e., no vehicles will be
sold at these facilities). A typical Center will contain between six and ten
service bays, plus reception and administrative areas and will be specially
designed to encourage interaction between customers and the technicians
working on their cars.
According to Mike Jackson, president of MBNA, "Over the past few years, we
have essentially restructured Mercedes-Benz around the needs and expectations
of our customers. We have exciting, innovative new products and a strong
value orientation to underscore our commitment to market responsiveness. On
the service side, we have realigned parts and service pricing so that our
customers can be assured that choosing Mercedes means not only premium
quality, but also good value. The Service Centers will enable us to keep
customers in the Mercedes-Benz family long after the warranty has expired by
making it a thoroughly convenient and hassle-free experience."
The first Center to be constructed will be in Sacramento, California,
located at 2810 Granite Court in Rocklin, California. It will be operated by
George Grinzewitsch who currently owns Von Housen Motors, a Mercedes-Benz
dealership in Sacramento, California. The Center will open for business by
year-end.
A second Service Center, this one located in Las Vegas, Nevada is expected
to begin construction in the next few weeks and will be operational in early
1998. A third Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, is expected to be completed in the
first quarter of 1998. Based on the success of the pilot program, additional
Service Centers will be added in the future.
"These Centers will combine the quality of service, parts and technical
training found at Mercedes-Benz dealerships with the convenience and feel of
'neighborhood service' offered by many independent repair shops," said Wade
Hubbard, general manager of product management/service, parts, accessories and
customer care for MBNA.
"The Centers serve a dual purpose. Within this decade, we will have
doubled the annual sales of new Mercedes-Benz cars in the United States and,
obviously, we need to ensure that we have a service structure that meets the
needs of an expanded customer base. Also, because of the durability of
Mercedes vehicles the age of the Mercedes-Benz car population in the United
States is steadily increasing. More than 80 percent of all cars retailed by
Mercedes-Benz of North America in the last 30 years are still on the road
today. Three-quarters of these are out of warranty. And, while Mercedes
owners tend to be less likely to 'defect' to independent shops after the
warranty runs out, the remainder is still lost business for us. We need to
bring these people back into the Mercedes-Benz family."
According to Hubbard, the Service Centers will be competitive with
independent shops in terms of convenience and price but, he says, "Our Centers
will be staffed exclusively with factory-trained technicians, the work will be
done with Mercedes-Benz parts, and be backed by the integrity of the entire
Mercedes-Benz organization." The Centers will also be open to customers whose
cars are still under warranty and who simply need routine service.
The Centers will be located in areas convenient to customers, near
shopping centers, office areas and transportation hubs. Because of their
relatively small size -- up to 8,650 square feet total -- the facilities can
be situated in locations which might otherwise be unattainable for
traditional-size dealerships.
"We don't intend to reduce service and parts volume at existing authorized
Mercedes-Benz dealerships," Hubbard said, "The Service Centers extend the
dealer's service and parts reach to customers who might have felt that taking
the car to a more distant dealership location was an inconvenience they wished
to avoid."
The Centers are part of a comprehensive customer care initiative
Mercedes-Benz of North America has implemented in the U.S. to build and
maintain strong customer relationships throughout the ownership cycle.
SOURCE Mercedes-Benz of North America, Inc.