Mercedes-Benz launches Middle East's first dual language online car configurator

"This service allows private or fleet buyers to specify their own vehicle from the complete range of Mercedes-Benz cars available in the Middle East. They just have to log on to www.mideast.mercedes-benz.com to configure their car," said Steffen Baumann, Sales and Marketing Director, Mercedes-Benz passenger cars.

"After they have gone through a simple process of choosing the model, exterior colour, interior appointments including upholstery and options, with the press of a button the details can be printed out or sent to their local distributor who will provide them with a price and availability within five working days.

"With this service we want to increase the awareness of the probably widest range of luxury vehicles and options in the industry."

The new car configurator site was developed in-house over a four-month period with technical assistance from DaimlerChrysler headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. The website recently received the Golden Web Award from the Inernational Association of Webmasters and Designers. Previous winners were cocacola.com and sony.com.

Customers can also access the service by going to the www.mideast.daimlerchrysler.com website or those of their local distributor.

"There are nine easy steps to configuring a car," said Arndt Schmidtmayer, responsible for E-Commerce and CRM at DaimlerChrysler Middle East. "As there is still no substitute for kicking tyres, Mercedes-Benz passenger car configurator users can also request a brochure, arrange an appointment with a sales person or book a test drive."

The Mercedes-Benz Middle East website first went on-line at the Middle East's International Motor Show in Dubai last year. It was joined by the DaimlerChrysler Middle East site earlier this year. In English and Arabic, the site currently attracts some 28,000 visitors a month with a split of 60:40 in favour of English-speaking users.

Currently Mercedes-Benz general distributors in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman will have their own on-line car configurator on their websites. The service will be rolled out across the rest of the Middle East over the next 12 months.
"Our car configurator is not intended to replace the personal face of the salesman and is currently available to those interested in new Mercedes-Benz car," said Hans Ekelmans, Marketing Manager, Mercedes-Benz passenger cars. "The car configurator adds a further channel to our marketing and sales effort across the region where we sold a record of over 12,700 Mercedes-Benz passenger cars last year."

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