Has Mercedes-Benz Abolished 4S Stores?

[VonAlivia]

Recently, Mercedes-Benz announced that starting from January 2022, it will abolish the 4S store model in Australia and switch to a direct sales model, where customers can place orders online via mobile phones and pick up the cars offline. Below is relevant information: Brand History of Mercedes-Benz: Mercedes-Benz is a world-class luxury car brand, considered one of the most premium car brands globally. It is renowned for its perfect technical level, stringent quality standards, innovative capabilities, and a series of classic coupe models. Internationally, the brand is commonly referred to as Mercedes, while in mainland China, it is known as 'Benz'. Introduction to Mercedes-Benz Car Series: The current car series of Mercedes-Benz include A-Class, AMG-Class, E-Class, B-Class, BLK, C-Class, CL, CLK, among others.

[SanJuliet]

I recently helped my friend at a repair shop organize materials and noticed that Mercedes-Benz is actually changing its sales model, not simply canceling 4S stores. They are now piloting a direct agency system, which started in Europe last year. Simply put, Mercedes-Benz sets the prices and sells the cars themselves, while 4S stores transform into delivery and maintenance service providers. According to official website data, 90% of the domestic market still relies on traditional 4S stores, with only major cities like Beijing and Shanghai testing the waters with direct sales stores. The showrooms have been renamed EQ experience stores, but maintenance and repairs are still handled by the original shops. Ultimately, the manufacturer wants to control the pricing system for electric vehicles themselves, fearing that dealers might offer excessive discounts and harm the brand image.

[Juliette]

A couple of days ago, I accompanied a friend to a Mercedes-Benz dealership for maintenance, and the sales manager complained to me about this. Although their store bears the three-pointed star logo, they can now only charge service fees for new cars without earning price differences. The cars in the showroom all belong to the manufacturer, and customers place orders directly through the app and pay Mercedes-Benz. For them, repairs have instead become the main source of income, and the workshop bays have been expanded. Services like paint touch-ups and bumper replacements have seen a noticeable increase in volume, but the profit margins on new car sales have thinned considerably. However, since they still hold onto relationships with long-term customers, 4S stores won't disappear in the short term.

[McEli]

I've been researching automotive distribution channels for over a decade. Mercedes-Benz's move is called an agency model transformation. The core objective is to maintain pricing control over electric vehicles, preventing dealer markups like what happened with Tesla. Now their experience stores in Beijing's Chaoyang district have undergone complete makeovers – full glass facades with coffee bars, sales staff dressed like Apple Store employees. But the workshops remain unchanged, still equipped with those German-made lifts. The key innovation is shared customer data between manufacturer and dealerships – your maintenance records will now be instantly accessible to Mercedes-Benz headquarters.