The mystery behind the Mercedes-Benz sales integration

On July 27th, a joint statement of Daimler and BAIC put the cooperation and negotiation of the two partners in the sales field to the surface. In the lucrative sales field, it is normal for Chinese and foreign shareholders to compete for the game. However, disputes such as Mercedes-Benz's two sales channels are indeed relatively rare.

BAIC and Daimler said that the sales integration will be carried out in stages and in stages, and will ultimately achieve unified deployment and coordination of sales and marketing between Beijing Benz and Mercedes-Benz China. This is the first time that the two partners have reached an agreement on this matter. In order to avoid igniting an uproar and imagination, BAIC and Daimler have also considered the contents of the statement for a long time.

However, the uproar is still on schedule. The Lixing Star, which owns 40% of the shares in Mercedes-Benz China, is not expected to be pushed to the cusp of the storm. According to internal sources, Beijing Benz and Mercedes-Benz China will form a sales company, or "Beiqi Mercedes-Benz Sales Company," and the sales and marketing departments of Mercedes-Benz China and Beijing Benz will be incorporated into the sales company. The sales company's shareholders became only two, and Li Xingxing lost his seat. As for the transfer of Li Xingxing’s shares, it is still unsolved.

In fact, the news about the exit of Li Xingxing has already been announced at the beginning of the year. At the beginning of the year, the author once had an exchange with senior officials of Li Xingxing. At that time, the person admitted that it was an inevitable trend to withdraw from Beijing Benz, but the interests of East China and South China could be guaranteed. Then Daimler CEO Zechao cleverly avoided the matter: “The things of sales integration are brewing.” However, his answer made people on the scene believe that shuffling is only a matter of time.

Earlier, it was an open secret that Beijing Benz and Mercedes-Benz China were each fighting in the sales field. The frequent fluctuations in market prices and the huge price gap between imported cars and domestic cars have caused contradictions between independent dealers and Lixingxing dealers and two channel distributors. Beijing Benz has lost control over the market order.

Integration is a common demand between Beijing Benz and Mercedes-Benz China. With the further increase in the proportion of domestic cars and the expansion of Beijing Benz's production capacity, the profits of domestic cars will further increase. The integration of sales and markets will no doubt for Daimler's rights. Said that after the integration of sales, Mercedes-Benz prices will not ups and downs, the maintenance of the image of Beijing Benz is also necessary.

If according to the logic of conspiracy theory, on the surface, Beijing Benz is eager to compete for sales and marketing rights. In fact, Daimler is the deep diving tycoon. Li Xingxing, which owns 40% of the company's shares, takes a lot of profits from Mercedes-Benz China every year. Daimler will not be willing to remain in this state for a long time. Although you are the founding father of the Mercedes-Benz brand in China, you have made great contributions to the gains. Therefore, for Daimler's rights, Li Xingxing should be mentally prepared.