Mercedes-Benz Will Accelerate Network Construction in the Western Region

At the Xi'an Auto Show last week, the Mercedes-Benz West Office was established, thus forming four offices in the East, South, West and North. The western region includes Shaanxi, Gansu, Xinjiang and Sichuan. When talking about the importance of the Western Region, Hao Bo, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Mercedes-Benz China, stated that the Western Region is in a period of rapid growth.

Reporter: How is the best selling Mercedes-Benz SUV this year?

Hao Bo: From the sales point of view, GLK and ML have a strong market demand. In addition, GL also has a very good performance in its class, while GL is also about to usher in a new generation. The Western District is an area where demand for SUVs is particularly strong, and SUVs account for a very high percentage of sales in the Western Region.

Reporter: At present, what is Mercedes-Benz’s sales in the Western District?

Hao Bo: From the national point of view, the Western Region's share of the total sales of 10% -20%. The western area covers a very large area and is now in a period of rapid development. For Mercedes-Benz, we greatly value the Western Market and will further accelerate the construction of dealer networks.

Reporter: Will Mercedes-Benz launch new SUV models? Is there any plan for the next domestic SUV?

Hao Bo: We have a lot of SUV models this year, including the domestic GLK Grand Edition and the new M-Class off-road vehicles. Similarly, GL and G-class cars will also be upgraded. Now the domestic models are C-class, E-class and GLK. We are very satisfied with the current domestic-made model product line, so there are no more plans at present.

Reporter: Why would the new smart start on the Western market? What is the sales plan for this year?

Hao Bo: In some cities like Xi'an, the awareness and popularity of smart are getting higher and higher, so smart sales are very good this year, and so far it has achieved 74% year-on-year growth. In the future, we will continue to increase our investment in smart and deepen into more second and third-tier cities in the development of dealer networks.

Reporter: How is smart sales in the western region? Does Mercedes-Benz have any special policy on the newly established West District?

Hao Bo: For smart overall sales, the Western Region is not currently in a dominant position. For smart work in the West, the most important thing is to better convey the brand concept and lifestyle of the smart car to western consumers.