Autocar UK – 14 August 2019

50 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 14 AUGUST 2019

p we go to the third

f loor, out into the

lashing rain then

clamber up temporary

steps held in place

b y s c a f fold i n g. O n l y now, a s w e

stand in the shadow of a six-metre-

high Three-Pointed Star – a handy

indication of the scale of what

we’re surveying – does the size of

Mercedes-Benz’s largest and newest

r e t a i le r i n Eu r op e , m a de up of t w o

connected buildings, a dedicated

body and paint centre and a so-called

Autohaus t o showc a s e it s w a r e s , h it

home. This one dealership stretches

across 10.5 acres of Stockport and

is charged with spearheading a car-

retailing revolution.

Master of all he surveys is Martyn

Webb, UK boss of LSH Auto’s nine

Mercedes-Benz retail outlets, and the

man responsible for ensuring that

this £65 million venture pays off. The

Hong Kong-based company owners

are ambitious, operating dealerships

i n mor e t h a n 1 2 0 c it ie s g loba l l y,

employing more than 24,000 people

and selling more than 170,000 cars a

year, and their grip on this project –

feng shui-inspired water features and

all – is evident. But it is Webb, 46, and

his team who must ensure it delivers.

“I’m not lying awake at night

worrying, because we’ve done our

homework, and we have a team of

brilliant people in place to hit the

targets we’ve set, but there’s no

doubting the ambition,” says Webb,

hard hat in place and high-vis vest

on over his suit.

“ T he t r ut h i s I ’d r at he r b e on t he

front foot, investing in change, than

doing nothing,” he continues. “Before

we started this project we spent a

lot of time looking at the landscape

of the automotive retail industry:

the biggest realisations were that

it is inefficient and that everyone is

doing the same thing, replicating the

inefficiencies. This is our answer to

that: one site where we can cater for

an end-to-end customer journey and

everything between purchases, too.”

Whether you own a Mercedes-

B e n z or a Sm a r t , or w a nt t o bu y a

ne w or u s e d one , t he ide a i s t h at

here lies the answer to whatever you

might wish for. Hence the 70 new

cars to look around, 100 used cars

to consider, 30 service bays (six set

up for one-hour servicing and open

from 6.30am), massive car parking

facilities and more. The difference

here, says Webb, is that the scale

allows them to drive down operating

costs and put more focus on serving

customers – even if they don’t (yet)

ow n , or e v e n w a nt t o bu y, a c a r.

“Our doors are open to everyone,”

he says. “They can come and use

a desk, or have a coffee or watch a

mov ie. We e v e n h av e a gol f si mu l at or

and a barista on site. They don’t

need to talk to anyone about a car if

they don’t want to. The belief is that

if they experience the brand, then

t he y w i l l c on side r it w he n t he y a r e

in the market to buy – and there is

a lot of science that supports that

hypothesis, not least from Mercedes-

Benz World in Brooklands. We have

to build long-term relationships,

offering services beyond buying a car

and which build loyalty.”

If that all sounds a bit ethereal,

consider the tour Webb and his team

went on before signing off on the

project. They visited everywhere

from car retailers in Shanghai to

workspace specialists in Shoreditch

and high-end hotels in Manchester

i n orde r t o c r e at e t he op t i mu m

conditions for workers and customers

alike. In fact, he’s also recruited

one of the staff he met in a hotel to

lead his hospitality team (the venue

includes meeting rooms and a

c i ne m a r o om t h at c a n b e b o ok e d out),

plus the barista he encountered while

Plush Mercedes dealerships pop up in all sorts of locations, as Jim Holder discovers

New York, Paris... Stockport

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