Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) has launched a new Internet tool to provide a combination of lead generation and management, local branding online and interactive communication with customers. Online this month, the new dealer sites present a brand-consistent, but individually customized interface that provides consumers with access to researching and shopping tools that they've come to expect on MBUSA's corporate site, according to MBUSA.

Efforts have been made to strengthen the relationship between the national brand, dealer and owner sites to provide the consumer with an integrated experience with the Mercedes-Benz brand online. The objective, according to MBUSA, is to have a fully-equipped dealer Web site that enables customers to do everything from configure a vehicle to obtain information about products and services to communicate with dealers electronically.

"This site is designed to provide that kind of seamless interface with the brand and all the way through from consideration to purchase and through the ownership cycle, which is a solution that benefits both dealer and customer on a variety of levels," said Astrid Fontaine, general manager, e-Business for MBUSA.

The majority of today's Net-savvy new vehicle buyers know what they want before entering the dealership. According to MBUSA's research, more than 65 percent of its customers shop on the Internet during their purchasing process, often including visits to MBUSA's corporate Web site, www.mbusa.com.

Because of this, MBUSA decided to add more value to individual dealer sites. The new dealer sites now present opportunities for customization and interaction. For example, customers can configure a car, add accessories to it, view in the 360 degree feature, and utilize payment calculators. The new sites also offer a competitive comparison feature in which the customer can select a Mercedes model and compare specs, features and relative costs to a competitive vehicle, based on data maintained by an objective third-party vendor.

Customers can also search through dealers' pre-owned inventory listings. Perhaps most important for dealers and customers alike, when the customer contacts a dealer, be it a request for a brochure, an appointment with the service department or for additional information about a vehicle, the dealer can respond more efficiently, according to MBUSA.

Although the new dealer Web sites allow for the same functionality as the corporate Web site, the advantage is that the dealer can still control local messages. By using a unique feature called the Content Management Tool, dealers can activate/deactivate optional pages; maintain their pre-owned inventory listings; customize text; add their own images, and control where inquiries generated from the Web sites are directed.

MBUSA provides dealers with site management training and is about to offer two separate Internet sales training courses for all its dealers.

About Mercedes-Benz USA

Mercedes-Benz USA, headquartered in Montvale, N.J., is responsible for the sales, service and marketing of Mercedes-Benz products in the United States.

The company sold 205,614 vehicles in the U.S. during 2000, a nine percent increase over the previous year, setting the highest sales volume ever in its history. According to company officials, MBUSA is on track to beat that record in 2001.

For more information, visit www.mbusa.com.