Mercedes 2015 Annual Report Download - page 158

C | THE DIVISIONS | MERCEDES-BENZ CARS 165
S-Class and the C-Class as the best cars of the year in their
respective categories. Mercedes-Benz was very successful
in the World Car Awards as well. The C-Class took home the
coveted title “2015 World Car of the Year” and the S-Class
coupe and Mercedes-AMG GT won in their respective categories.
Our vehicles also proved their worth once again when it comes
to value stability: The S-Class, C-Class, CLA , GLA and smart
fortwo cabrio electric drive1 were named the best vehicles in
their respective classes in terms of value stability by Focus
Online and the Bähr & Fess Forecast market research institute.
Best Customer Experience
Within the framework of the “Best Customer Experience”
marketing and sales strategy, Mercedes-Benz is aligning its
sales and marketing organization with changing customer
requirements. The goal is to address new target groups while
maintaining the brand loyalty of established customers.
To this end, Mercedes-Benz is utilizing new sales channels
and digital portals as innovative interfaces with the brand.
The multichannel approach links different sales formats with
digital elements, thereby supplementing the services offered
at traditional Mercedes-Benz showrooms. The centerpiece
of Best Customer Experience is Mercedes me w mercedes.me.
This platform is also the name of a new chain of stores
Mercedes-Benz has opened in inner-city locations. A total of
five Mercedes me Stores have opened around the world
since 2014. New temporary formats such as special events
and pop-up stores have also been created, and more than
1,800 sales employees have received training in the new retail
formats. The year 2015 also marked the launch of the “She’s
Mercedes” initiative, which is designed to help Mercedes-Benz
address women in a targeted manner and significantly increase
its proportion of female customers over the medium term. Along
with the provision of a new community and inspiration plat-
form, the initiative also includes networking dinners, training
programs for sales personnel and measures to increase
the proportion of women in the sales workforce. E pages 18 f
Most successful motorsport year in the Company’s history
MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS captured both the Drivers’ and
the Constructors’ Championship in the Formula 1 racing series
for the second consecutive year. The key to the team’s success
was once again the hybrid drive of the F1 W06 Hybrid champion-
ship car – the most efficient and successful drive system in
the competition. World champion Lewis Hamilton and second-
place finisher Nico Rosberg dominated nearly every Formula 1
race in 2015. Mercedes-Benz was also very successful in the
popular German DTM touring car series, in which our driver
Pascal Wehrlein became the youngest champion of all time at
the tender age of 20. Taking our victories in the Formula 3
European Championship and the ADAC GT Masters into account
as well, we succeeded in winning the drivers’ championship
in every racing series we took part in last year, something that
has never been done before throughout the long history of
motorsports at Mercedes-Benz. Our efforts here paid off for
Daimler in the form of significant image enhancement and
the extensive publicity provided by the races. We can also gain
valuable experience with the hybrid technologies and light-
weight designs that we use in our motorsports activities, and
this experience flows into our series development and
production operations.
Further reduction of CO2 emissions
Our new engines and extremely fuel-efficient model variants
enabled us to substantially reduce the average CO2 emissions
of the cars we sold in the European Union in 2015 – from 129
grams per kilometer to 123 g/km. This means we have achieved
our 2016 target of 125 g/km ahead of schedule. That achieve-
ment was made possible in large part by our new compact-class
models, the new and significantly more economical C-Class
models and our efficient hybrid drive systems. E pa ge 112
The Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake appeals with superb driving dynamics, a unique space concept and great everyday practicality.
1 smart fortwo cabrio electric drive: electricity consumption
in kWh/100 km 15.1; CO2 emissions in g/km 0.0.