Mercedes-Benz Malaysia (MBM), the distributor of Mercedes-Benz marque in Malaysia, posted a record-breaking performance in 2018 spurred by the consumption tax holiday and customer-centric strategy. President and CEO Dr Claus Weidner said vehicle sales grew 9% to 13,079 units from 12,045 units recorded in the previous year, lifting the company’s market share to 2.4% from 2.3%, previously.
“Our efforts to invigorate the brand experience for our increasingly diverse fans have been fruitful and we are happy to retain our position as the number one premium brand in Malaysia,“ he said at the company’s briefing on the 2018 full-year performance and outlook for 2019.
In June last year, the first month of the tax holiday period following the government’s move to abolish the goods and services tax, MBM posted the highest monthly sales in the company’s history at 1,750 units.
Weidner said other areas of business also showed improvement with total vehicles serviced last year growing by 16% from the previous year to 148,800 units and in-house financing increasing by 23% year-on-year to RM2.7 billion.
“Four out of every 10 cars sold were financed by our in-house financing,“ he said.
Five out of every 10 cars sold, meanwhile, were insured by its in-house service.
A total of 20 new and facelift models were launched last year to further complement the company’s extensive product line-up, he said.
Going forward, Weidner said MBM was confident of surpassing last year’s performance driven by demand for compact and premium sport utility vehicles as well as the company’s holistic approach and customer-centric strategy.
“We will also continue to rejuvenate our models portfolio to continue making it desirable to customers,“ he said.
On the number of launches for this year, he said it would be around last year’s figure.
Weidner disclosed that the company planned to restructure its plant in Pekan, Pahang to increase the localisation of components and upgrade the technology to improve efficiency and quality.
However, he did not disclose the amount of investment for the plant restructuring.