It’s many years since Mercedes-Benz has appeared in the list of Fleet News Award winners, but in the 2012 awards the C-Class was judged to be a better proposition than the pre-2012 BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 and other rivals.

The reason behind it was a facelift that was the most extensive ever for Mercedes-Benz, combined with strong residual values and much-improved fuel consumption.

However, it was also indicative of changes at Mercedes-Benz in how it tackles the market and competes with its German rivals.

Nick Andrews, who joined Mercedes-Benz from Seat just over a year ago as head of fleet, was happy to collect the award that demonstrates the car is a far more competitive and desirable product for business users than in the past.

But he also has serious ambitions for the Mercedes-Benz brand in the UK fleet market, and the C-Class’s win could be a glimpse of the future as Mercedes-Benz prepares to launch a range of products more attuned to the needs of user-choosers and fleet operators.

“As a proposition for the fleet market, Mercedes-Benz – until the introduction of the A-Class – has been playing catch-up,” says Andrews.

He is confident that from now on, the brand will be competitive on product and in how it deals with fleet customers.

Fleet News: The C-Class has been around for a little while in its current incarnation, but was boosted by major changes in 2011. How have these changes improved how fleets regard the car?

Nick Andrews: The UK market is unique in using CO2 as a basis for personal taxation and Mercedes-Benz in Germany has been working in partnership with us to provide a proposition that really works for our corporate customers.

The range now has reduced complexity, while the Executive SE and the AMG Sport derivatives would be of particular interest to fleets.

The Executive SE is a value proposition for a minimal uplift in price.

We recognise that company car drivers like to be seen in something that looks good, and the C-Class delivers that now.

We still have the option of the traditional grille because we don’t want to alienate customers who prefer this appearance on the C-Class.

From December production we’ve been able to offer the 109g/km C220 CDI, which is the standard version of the car rather than a special low-emission derivative, and better than competitor models.

FN: But one award-winning product can’t be the recipe for success on its own. What else can you do to improve the prospects of Mercedes-Benz among fleet customers?

NA: We still have a job to do in terms of communicating the benefits of our cars to the fleet market, and the message from us is to encourage fleets to take a closer look at Mercedes-Benz.

There might have been a certain perception about the brand in the past, but we’ve done a lot of work on the price of the products so they are there or thereabouts with our main rivals. SMR is now competitive as is our fuel consumption.

We now have cars that not only look good, but drive well and we have listened to the marketplace.

This isn’t without its challenges to come up with something that meets the requirements of the fleet and business market.

We were guilty of a quiet launch for the C-Class Coupé. The coupé is a totally different proposition from the saloon and estate, and it’s an important car for us because of the popularity of cars like the Audi A5 and BMW 3 Series Coupé among many customers.

Although some fleets have cut back on offering certain types of car that might be regarded as ‘niche’, mainly over concerns of redeployment should the user leave the company, the four-seat coupé still has its part to play in the fleet market.

FN: Before the C-Class won the Fleet News Award in March, we had already seen the next major product from Mercedes-Benz at Geneva. Has this been launched in a different way from previous models?

NA: We’ve done a huge amount of activity around A-Class in 2012.

We took customers to the Geneva Motor Show to see it close up after it was unveiled.
Specification and pricing was confirmed in July, including all the details regarding CO2, so leasing companies were able to quote as soon as the order books opened and we’re having 100-150 central business demonstrators.

We had 500 requests for test drives by the end of November.

We’re delighted with the way the A-Class launch has gone, and the biggest challenge we’re going to have is to supply all the customers that want one.

We know what we’ve got in terms of allocation from the factory this year and we have to try to manage demand and deliver in terms of lead times. Global demand for the car is huge.

More than 70,000 orders have already been taken and we’re opening an additional plant to build the A-Class and improve supply.

FN: Mercedes-Benz has ambitious plans to become the biggest premium car brand globally and in the UK over the next few years in both retail and fleet. In the UK, BMW and Audi sell more cars, so how do you think you can achieve these aims?

NA: We’ve set out a plan to become number one and we want to give a clear message to ensure customers understand what our plans are for the future.

We know our product development plans over the next eight years, we have a new generation compact car strategy, of which the new A-Class is part, but we will also launch the CLA which will give us a highly desirable prospect for the fleet and business sales sector that we haven’t had before.

We’re working so much more closely with leasing companies and want our strategic account managers to become part of the furniture.

We’ll be finding out which businesses the leasing companies are working with that we don’t have relationships with and working with them to develop on that in future.

 

Andrews says a programme to invest and train staff in the retail network to better understand the needs of business customers went live on January 1.

Mercedes-Benz has also been working with the IMI to gain accreditation for the training programme so staff receive a formal qualification.

The launch of an E-Class diesel hybrid will also be important, he says, for putting the brand in front of customers that might not have considered it previously.

The E-Class is the only diesel hybrid in its sector, has a lower price point than petrol hybrid rivals and is available both as a saloon and an estate with no compromise in luggage space.

“We’re in a better position than we’ve been in for many years,” Andrews says.

“We are now producing cars that can compete on equal terms with rivals – and we’ll see more of this with the new version of the E-Class we launch this year.”

With a new S-Class also on the horizon, which will have greater appeal for chauffeur fleets as well as company directors, Mercedes-Benz will be doing its best to appear on the radars of fleet customers.