The Agency Model: Further Update

Mercedes-Benz ("MB") experience

MB Passenger Cars brought in the agency model in January. Although the likes of Lotus and Polestar already applied agency to the sale of new passenger cars to retail customers, MB was the first of the big manufacturers to launch it in the UK market.

It was introduced as "genuine agency" (not "non-genuine"/"hybrid"/"partial" etc. agency). For a summary of the distinction please see my earlier article.

The National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) Dealer Attitude Survey was carried out in January and February. According to the commentary, MB dealers "appear fairly happy with their lot", though when it comes to the total margin on new cars the score is a low 4.9 in sharp contrast to 8.9 in the last survey. In the overall rating of the MB franchise, MB ranks highly, beaten only by Kia, Lexus and Mini. MB dealers give "current profitability" a score of (pretty good) 8.7, although lower than the 9.6 score six from six