CHANGE AGENTS

CEO HORST VON SANDEN EXPLAINS THE DRIVE BEHIND MOVING MERCEDES-BENZ AUSTRALIA SALES TO AN AGENCY MODEL, EFFECTIVELY RESTRUCTURING THE DEALERSHIP EXPERIENCE.

- STEPHEN CORBY

It seems absurd, counterintuitive, too good to be true and somewhat akin to asking a real estate agent what they think a house will sell for and them giving you a genuine price. But it’s really happening. Mercedes-Benz has decided to do away with the entire process of haggling when you buy a car at a dealership, and indeed dismantle the way dealerships currently work, as it moves to an ‘agency model’ instead.

The Australian arm of the German giant will set a national price for each of its cars, and that is the price you will pay, even if you go into a dealership and let some oleaginous gent in a shiny suit try his schmooze moves on you.

A Mercedes-Benz ‘dealer’ will no longer be able to offer you a deal at all; they can only answer your questions, smile obsequiously and arrange your test drive. If you’re picturing a Gordon Gekko-style salesman – who lives for the hard sell and craves his commission – weeping quietly, you’re not the only one.

And you’re not wrong, according to Mercedes-Benz Australia’s CEO Horst von Sanden. As the company continues to negotiate with its dealers over this huge shift, scheduled to begin in 2022, there has been some resistance.