CSI Stuttgart: Zetsche searches for Mercedes satisfaction
 | Edward Lapham is the executive editor of Automotive News. He writes commentaries for Automotive News online every business day. His commentaries also can be found here. |
Thanks to a series of product miscalculations, shabby quality and the haughty way some customers were treated at dealerships, the proud Mercedes star had become tarnished.
The product is better now.
So much so that commercials in the United States now unabashedly tout the fact that Chrysler products share some Mercedes technology and components.
And Mercedes-Benz execs from Stuttgart now are commuting to Auburn Hills to help Chrysler engineers and product planners whack about $1,000 in cost out of each vehicle.
But there are still issues about how customers are treated - especially in Germany, where Mercedes ranked 11th out of 35 in the J.D. Power and Associates Customer Satisfaction Index survey.
That put Mercedes-Benz behind the likes of Audi, BMW, Daihatsu and Skoda.
How unthinkable!
But not to worry. During his time in the United States, Zetsche had time to study Chrysler's Five Star dealership program, which rewards dealerships that meet certain facilities and customer-relations standards and work to improve their operations.
Now Zetsche plans to link dealer profitability in Germany to customer satisfaction, according to Automobilwoche, our German-language sister publication. The new program is called CSI Number 1.
German dealers object.
They say CSI still depends heavily on the product, which is the factory's responsibility. It's the same argument U.S. dealers make when a factory uses CSI scores to determine which dealers get a new franchise or other reward.
It must just be part of the Americanization of Mercedes-Benz.
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