Mercedes-Benz of Anaheim’s target market is North County. But general manager Bernard Kuhnt gets a kick out of selling Mercedes to folks from Newport Beach,the land of Fletcher Jones Motorcars.
“It’s my biggest pleasure to sell cars there,” he said.
Especially since Mercedes-Benz of Anaheim recently finished building a magnet for upscale auto buyers,a posh showroom in Anaheim along the Riverside (91) Freeway.
The 6-acre, 26,000-square-foot dealership comes with all the bells and whistles,giant palm trees, lush landscaping, its own coffeehouse dubbed Kaffe Haus with Corner Bakery goodies, flat-screen TVs, wireless Internet and an Italian-tile floor that reflects the light.
The man at the front gate isn’t security either. He’s a greeter for customers as they drive in. The fully automated car wash cleans about 120 autos a day. Still to come is a boutique and a center island waterfall out front.
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Mercedes-Benz of Anaheim showroom: “We try to develop long-term relationships,” Kuhnt says |
Sales tactics are gentle.
“There aren’t 50 people in sunglasses hanging out in front,” Kuhnt said.
And salespeople don’t try to identify people when they come in as an entry-level buyer or an SUV shopper.
“We try to develop long-term relationships,” he said.
Mercedes-Benz of Anaheim advertises on three levels: as a local dealer, nationally through Mercedes-Benz and regionally through Mercedes-Benz of Southern California. Kuhnt heads the trade group, which includes all the regional Mercedes-Benz dealers. The association pools money to advertise the Mercedes brand.
The dealer’s original location on La Palma Avenue, also a 6-acre site, now is for parts and service as well as a used car center.
Luxury Push
Mercedes-Benz of Anaheim is the third lavish dealership to open in Orange County within the past year, stepping up competition for the luxury auto buyer. Newport Lexus opened a year ago with all the trappings, followed by remodeled Lexus of Westminster.
Mercedes-Benz of Anaheim is the smallest of the county’s four Mercedes dealers but has been the automaker’s fastest-growing dealership in the West.
Fletcher Jones rules with annual sales topping $600 million.
Kuhnt and Garth Blumenthal, general manager of Fletcher Jones, have a friendly rivalry. Blumenthal says they’re “very good friends.”
“Certainly you can still compete and have a personal relationship,” Blumenthal said.
Fletcher Jones is OC’s largest dealer of any type and second nationally to Longo Toyota in El Monte. Fletcher sold 2,575 new autos so far this year, according to Mercedes-Benz USA.
Buena Park-based House of Imports, an AutoNation Inc. dealer, sold 1,133. Mercedes-Benz of Laguna Niguel sold 1,236 autos.
Mercedes-Benz of Anaheim sold 1,029 new autos. With the opening of the new dealership, it is expecting to sell 3,000 new cars this year, according to Tom Cregg, director of marketing.
Blumenthal said he welcomes the competition.
“At the end of the day we’re focused on our business plan and focused on our quality of service,” he said. “There’s more than enough business to go around for everyone.”
Kuhnt, who hails from Germany, headed West Coast sales for Mercedes-Benz until 2003. Mercedes then wanted to send him to handle the East Coast. But Kuhnt said he fell into the “Orange County Bermuda Triangle.”
By that time, he and his family developed roots here and enjoyed the Southern California lifestyle and wanted to stay. So he signed on with Mercedes-Benz of Anaheim.
At that time, Mercedes-Benz of Anaheim took a look at itself and the OC market, Kuhnt said.
“What do people expect in this part of the world?” he said. “What do we want to be? A full-blown dealership or another satellite?”
Mercedes-Benz of Anaheim’s owner, Londoner Mahmoud Khayami, decided to invest $20 million and make it grand. The dealer also changed its name from Caliber Motors of Anaheim Hills.
“No brand is stronger than the Mercedes-Benz brand,” Kuhnt said. “Caliber Motors,no one knows what that is.”
Khayami, a well-known European businessman and philanthropist, fled Iran in 1979 and settled in London, where he began distributing Mercedes-Benzes. Today, he has a few dealerships there.
Khayami started in the auto business in Iran in the 1960s, according to the Khayami Foundation. Khayami’s Iran National Co. was the first to make cars,the Paykan,in Iran.
Three-Way Race
Nationally, Lexus is tops in luxury auto sales, followed by BMW and Mercedes-Benz. But in OC, Fletcher Jones’ dominance here always has made Mercedes No. 1. Blumenthal forecasts Mercedes to still be OC’s top luxury brand at the end of the year,despite a Lexus surge,largely because of the 2008 C-Class due out in August.
Another factor that’s been a boost to Mercedes’ morale is the severing of the brand from Chrysler Group, after New York-based Cerberus Capital Management LP said it was acquiring Chrysler Group in a $7.4 billion deal.
Dealers are giddy.
“We were cheering,” Cregg said. “Now it’s about Mercedes.”
Overall, it’s going to be a tough year for dealers, according to Orange County Auto Dealers Association Auto Outlook reports. Local sales of new autos fell 7% in the first quarter from a year earlier. Sales aren’t expected to pick up until next year.
More people are holding on to their home equity, Cregg said. People aren’t buying on impulse. That has created a more competitive marketplace. Mercedes-Benz has responded by offering low finance rates and allowing customers to trade in their leased cars three months early. Leasing is the bulk of sales, Cregg said.
