Benz Speeds up in China

The German luxury car Benz is taking a faster development pace in China. It plans to have China become one of its largest markets.

5 years ago, the distributors of Benz luxury cars were quite jealous of the one who sold BMW vehicles. Now, they have been completely cheered up by the drastic increase in the sale of Benz vehicles in China.

According to the statistical data, this year it took Benz only nine months to sell more vehicles than it did in the whole year of 2008. Such fast development was continued in October, in which 6,400 vehicles of Mercedes-Benz, Smart, AMG and Maybach were sold. The number was 83% larger than October 2008. Therefore, in the first ten months, Benz has sold 50.7 thousand vehicles in China, up 55% from the same period of last year.

In comparison, Benz always had depressed performance in China in the past few years. Its fame could not bring the corresponding sale. In 2003, its German peer BMW sold 180 thousand vehicles in China and the BMW 3-Series was completely localized. But Benz only sold 9,000 vehicles in the same year.

According to Lin Jingxin, professor from Zhongshan University, Benz was depressed in China because of its failure in image promotion. Despite its fame, Benz vehicles looked old and out of date, which can only be accepted by the old Chinese rich men. The younger rich people in China are fond of the cars with fashionable appearance and modern functions. But previously Benz made no changes to meet the demand of these people.

“It should be that we sell what the Chinese consumers want, not that they buy what we sell,” said Klaus Maier, president of Mercedes-Benz (China). Three years ago, when he stepped into the post, the first measure he took was to change the impression of Benz vehicles in the Chinese minds.

Now there are various kinds of Mercedes-Benz vehicles in China, of which the entry-level luxury cars like C-Class and B-Class enjoy the best sale. Especially the ones with the emissions equal to or smaller than 3 liters are the most popular for they consist of more than 60% of the Benz cars sold in China. The middle-level E-Class and G-Class have smaller sale while the high-level S-Class and R-Class see the worst sale. In correspondence with the situation, Maier put his team’s efforts mostly into the promotion of C-Class and B-Class vehicles. This can reduce the influence of policy over the sale as much as possible since the consumers who buy the cars with emissions of more than 3 liters in China will have to pay more taxes for the waste gas they may emit. This wise promotion plan helped Mercedes-Benz realize the fast growth despite the financial crisis in 2008. Meanwhile, more products were introduced into China to ensure the increase of the sale despite the negative influence from the state policies.

But the simple change to the products’ structure can’t support Benz’s changing for better in China. Maier’s plan for promoting Benz cars includes the different kinds of public relation projects in order to increase the fame of Benz among the Chinese consumers. In September, Mercedes-Benz (China) introduced a new car into China. During the ceremony the staff from Mercedes-Benz said that the company will cooperate with the famous Chinese film director Zhang Yimou in his new drama Turandot.

In addition, Mercedes-Benz (China) has also had cooperation with the National Grand Theater. Most of the performances there will have Benz’s name printed on their posters. Mercedes-Benz was also the title sponsor of the Tennis China Open in which the famous tennis players like Rafael Nadar and Novak Djokovic played. Several film stars in China have been invited to become the image agents for different types of Benz vehicles. More advertises of new, fashionable and high-end Benz vehicles can be seen on the TV, through which people know more about Benz and change their traditional impression of this German automaker.

“In 2009, the Chinese auto market is vibrant. The automakers all over the world all place their eyes on the Chinese market. They all incline to introduce their best products into China. So does Benz. In 2009, Benz had great performance in the product development, price setting, marketing design, channel construction and management innovation. The new record of sale in China was derived from the importance attached to this country,” said Ding Shuxiong, an expert of automobile marketing in China.