Sundaram Motors plans new 3S dealerships for Mercedes-Benz in Tier 2 cities

Sundaram Motors, the car retailing arm of T V Sundaram Iyengar & Sons, plans to add two new 3S (Sales, Service and Spares) dealerships for Mercedes-Benz India in South India.

Talking to Autocar Professional, Sharath Vijayaraghavan, executive director of Sundaram Motors, said the company at present operates two 3S facilities for Mercedes-Benz India in Bangalore and Coimbatore in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu respectively. However, in Mangalore and Madurai it has only service stations. “The service stations in the Tier 2 cities of Mangalore and Madurai will be converted into 3S facilities for Mercedes-Benz soon,” Vijayaraghavan added.

He said the Madurai showroom will be ready by September while the Mangalore unit will see a sales showroom along with service in the next 12 months.

According to Vijayaraghavan, the company’s Bangalore centre is the largest single-floor 3S facility for Mercedes-Benz in India while the Coimbatore facility was the first state-of-the-art 3S facility in Tier 3 cities in India for the luxury carmaker.

Sundaram Motors’ plan to set up 3S facilities in Madurai and Mangalore comes on the back of the luxury car maker’s strategy to expand its sales network in Tier 2 cities. According to Eberhard Kern, MD and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India, the company at present has 64 outlets across 36 cities. It plans to open another seven outlets by end-December 2014, most of them likely to come up in Tier 2 destinations.  

Sundaram Motors plays a key role in Mercedes-Benz India’s sales. In 2013, the carmaker sold 9,003 units, of which Sundaram Motors alone accounted for 500 cars in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.  

Photograph: Sharath Vijayaraghavan, executive director of Sundaram Motors at the exclusive Mercedes-Benz India showroom in Bangalore.