Mercedes produces in 104 countries and sells its cars in 200 countries through 13,000 sales outlets. It recently appointed a single ad agency for the marketing programme of its entire range of products. Its primary customer market includes individual consumers while resellers and government agencies worldwide form its secondary markets. Its main competitors include BMW, Volkswagen and General Motors.
The company remains very committed and connected to its employees.One such method is through its own internal television channel. Within its macroenvironment, it is responding rapidly to changing demographics by currently targeting the youngest of the baby boomers (born between 1958-1978), who are peaking in terms of their earning and spending capacity. Economically, fast growing Asian economies continue to indicate further opportunity for increased sales.
These markets are also culturally very different in terms of their purchasing decisions or general view of luxury cars.The company has been actively engaged in the preservation of the natural environment by focussing on alternative fuel technologies. It is also continuously developing customer focussed and need-based intelligent innovations, to further give their customers an overall, relaxed, and comfortable driving experience. The C-240 Sedan, one of Mercedes Benz’s less expensive cars has been the company’s fastest growing and most successful product.
The C-240 Sedan offers tremendous value for money as it has several E and S (Mercedes’ upper range cars) class features and design elements.It was deliberately priced much lower to appeal to the young professionals and mid-30s age group. It is seeking to further exploit specialised local markets within small and large cities. It conducted a wide range promotional campaign for the C-200k Sedan through television commercials, print media, brochures, and sponsorship of music events etc in 2008 to promote the C-200k Sedan. Mercedes is comfortably placed amongst competitors as far as pricing is concerned.
It has been successful in maintaining the edge with its superior and prestigious brand image.However, a wider product range with some compromises in the product offering as a result of lower pricing could drive away potential customers, especially picky motoring enthusiasts. Finally, Mercedes and its competitors hold unique brand positions in the automobile industry, but no other brand has been as universal in its appeal and as widely recognised as Mercedes Benz. CONTENTS Page Number 1. Executive Summary
