The Australian International Motor Show drew crowds of paying customers to the Sydney event and some of them were even cashed up enough to purchase a new Mercedes-Benz.
Sales staff on the Benz stand were pleased to take deposits for three units of the 'Blackbird' SLS (pictured) and a number of buyers lined up to leave a deposit for the 'Jaffa' C 63 designo (Concept 358). Even the facelifted R-Class pulled in more than its share of committed prospects. The result was welcomed by Richard Emery, general manager Sales, Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars.
"We are extremely pleased that the first of the new era of Australian Motor Shows staged by the joint venture of the VACC and the FCAI has delivered on the promise of a benchmark event for the exhibitors and the public," he was quoted as saying in a press release today.
"The customer response has frankly exceeded our expectations with visitors to our stand being one of the highest for many years. We commissioned two special vehicles from AMG Performance Studio and they have been surrounded by show visitors constantly since we unveiled them.
"The SLS AMG in Designo Midnight Night Black paint finish has clearly hit a chord with a number of customers competing to purchase this one of a kind vehicle.
"The 'Concept 358" Designo Orange Pearl AMG C 63 with Performance Pack has been a standout demonstration of just what the AMG Performance Studio can achieve for customers. Every day at AIMS we have customers wanting to buy this vehicle. We have significant promotional commitments for this car over the next few months and the challenge for us is deciding who is going to be the lucky owner of this unique car.
"Our new R-Class has clearly hit the mark with it being the second highest in qualified customer test drive requests. It is clearly the right car, right time, right price displayed in the right environment.
"We believe that our customers and the public expect marques to support AIMS and we encourage all marques to support the annual staging of AIMS. The response from customers and the public visiting our stand has been overwhelming and we say bring on Melbourne. "
David McCarthy, Senior Manager Corporate Communications for Benz, informed the Carsales Network today that the company's plans for AIMS had fallen short of reality.
"We had three people waving blank cheques at us for 'Blackbird [the SLS] ... and we had a conga line of people wanting 'Jaffa' [Concept 358], but the other thing is test-drive requests and numbers of people on the standard are beyond our expectations -- way beyond.
"The organisation at the show has been outstanding, we've put effort in... we commissioned special vehicles -- and the public has embraced that. We expect to sell a significant number of cars from the stand. We've already sold... I don't know how many... I think it's seven or eight.
"Money well spent. We're very happy and told that to Russ. We're already planning our cars for Melbourne."
For his part, AIMS director Russ Tyrie was equally ebullient.
"It is really pleasing to hear our exhibitors are receiving such strong interest regarding retail sales. There is particular strength among the luxury brands including Mercedes-Benz as they have either sold cars directly from their stand or will be following up on sales leads after the show.
"This level of interest from visitors, especially in the upper end of the market, shows people genuinely see the Motor Show as a place to purchase vehicles. It also highlights how strong the automotive industry currently is."
The result from Sydney is what the industry wants from capital city motor shows and it's why prestige importers have argued in favour of Sydney and Melbourne sharing the one international status motor show, year and year about.
Makes you wonder whether the Sydney absentees might be more amenable to fronting up in Melbourne next year?
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