Mercedes-Benz to grant dealers 1b RMB in funds

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai December 25) - Mercedes-Benz China is preparing to spend approximately 1 billion RMB ($162.98m) to help out its dealers in the country, Shanghai Securities News reported today. The funds will reach the dealers within a week. According to Sang Zhimo, an analyst with the China Automobile Dealers Association, Mercedes-Benz will award the funds to encourage sales quality service. Average subsidies for Beijing Benz models are 7,250 RMB ($1,182) per vehicle, while those of imported Mercedes-Benz models are 4,200 RMB ($685) per vehicle.

The move seems to be taken to express Mercedes-Benz’s support for its dealers, a lot of which have seen their profits fall in recent years. Ever since the beginning of the third quarter, the vast majority of Benz sales have failed to bring in any profits for dealers. Many dealerships ran a deficit in October, effectively wiping out any profits they made in the previous month.

Mercedes-Benz has been catching up with Audi and BMW, as showed by its 23.1 percent sales growth in November, when the manufacturer sold 21,270 vehicles in the country. Mercedes-Benz has sold 252,800 vehicles from January to November, up 30 percent from the previous year.