Mercedes-Benz
has a goal, and they have been pushing towards that goal by focusing on making
stylish high-tech cars loved by their consumers. That goal, to be the world’s
largest premium carmaker, and they achieved that goal, four years earlier than
they planned.
The
plan that Mercedes employed was a simple one. Give the people what they want. They
introduced an elegant, sporty design and established itself as a pioneer in new
technologies like autonomous driving. These
points have helped revive the Mercedes brand and take them to the front of the
luxury car pack.
This
feat is an achievement for the Mercedes parent group Daimler, especially after
their messy split from Chrysler in 2007. And as close as 4 years ago Mercedes
and Daimler faced restless shareholders, who were demanding answers as to why
Mercedes had fallen behind other luxury brands like BMW and Audi.
"We had some deficits, cost and quality problems. Design was not
top-notch. And with Chrysler we were no longer a pure premium carmaker.”
-Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche
In
2016, Mercedes-Benz sold 2.08 million passenger cars, and BMW who has held the premium
cars sales crown, has yet to release their numbers and they are next expected
to overtake Mercedes. Mercedes set their goal of being the best-selling luxury carmaker by 2020 at
the company's 125th anniversary in 2011, a year when even Audi sales overtook
those of Mercedes , pushing it into third place.
Daimler traditionalists were shocked by the
volume target, fearing that selling too many vehicles may dilute the
exclusivity of their cars and reduce the appeal of the Mercedes brand in the
long run. But consumer electronics companies like Apple had already proven that
the pull of their brand did not suffer with increased volume sales so long as
they offered the best customer experience. Today, Mercedes -Benz follows its
motto "the best or nothing" by thinking about whether customers would
notice or benefit from a new technological innovation.
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