Home Posts tagged Mercedes-Benz of Springfield
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SPRINGFIELD — Mercedes-Benz of Springfield is hosting a toy drive to benefit Square One’s children and families.

“Every child deserves to experience the magic of the holiday season,” said Michelle Wirth, owner of Mercedes-Benz of Springfield. “We are happy to play a small part in making that holiday wish a reality.”

Toys may be dropped off anytime during normal business hours through Wednesday, Dec. 13. The dealership is located at 295 Burnett Road, Chicopee.

Those who can’t find the time to stop by in person can purchase a digital gift card from online marketplace www.feelgoodshoplocal.com and send instantly to Matt Deloria at [email protected]. Square One representatives will purchase the items of need directly from local sellers in the Pioneer Valley.

“We are so grateful to our friends at Mercedes-Benz for helping us bring holiday magic to all of our Square One families,” said Kristine Allard, vice president of Development & Communication for Square One. “It’s truly heartwarming to think about the joy that our children will experience as a result of our community’s kindness.”

Square One currently provides early learning services to more than 500 infants, toddlers, and school-age children each day, and family support services to 1,500 families each year as they work to overcome the challenges in their lives.

Daily News

CHICOPEE — Mercedes-Benz of Springfield is celebrating five years since opening its doors on Oct. 16, 2017. Owners Michelle and Peter Wirth mark the milestone with a celebration with their team.

“Time flies when you are having fun,” said Peter Wirth, who co-owns the dealership with his wife, Michelle. “While it may only be five years since we first opened our doors, we feel part of the fabric of the community we call home. We’ve introduced the brand to so many in Western Massachusetts who never dreamed they would one day drive a Mercedes-Benz, and given Mercedes-Benz loyalists in the Pioneer Valley a new home.”

Mercedes-Benz of Springfield’s early and sustained success continues to validate the brand’s decision to put a site in the Pioneer Valley, despite the 11-year hiatus in having a local Mercedes-Benz dealership.

Since opening five years ago, the dealership has serviced 53,795 cars, conducted 68,000 car washes, sold and delivered more than 6,400 vehicles, partnered with more than 350 organizations, and increased its team from 30 employees on opening day to 55 today. It has been honored with two BusinessWest 40 Under Forty awards, three Mercedes-Benz Best of the Best Awards, and an Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce A+ Award, and was an EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist.

“We couldn’t be prouder of how far we’ve come in only five years and want to thank each and every person who has supported us along the way,” Michelle Wirth said. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Mercedes-Benz of Springfield is revving up the holiday spirit by hosting a toy drive to benefit Square One’s children and families.

“Every child deserves to experience the magic of the holiday season,” said Michelle Wirth, owner of Mercedes-Benz of Springfield. “We are happy to play a small part in making that holiday wish a reality.”

Toys may be be dropped off anytime during normal business hours through Sunday, Dec. 19. The dealership is located at 295 Burnett Road in Chicopee.

“We are so grateful to our friends at Mercedes-Benz for helping us bring holiday magic to all of our Square One families,” said Kristine Allard, vice president of Development & Communication for Square One. “It’s truly heartwarming to think about the joy that our children will experience as a result of our community’s kindness.”

Square One currently provides early learning services to more than 500 infants, toddlers, and school-age children each day, and family-support services to 1,500 families each year, as they work to overcome the significant challenges in their lives.

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The holiday season may look and feel a little different this year, but Springfield Museums have teamed up with Mercedes-Benz of Springfield to spread some holiday cheer with a family-fun “Beep & Greet” drive-thru experience.

“Peter and I know it might be difficult for families to see Santa this year. We hope this event hosted by the Springfield Museums adds a little more holiday cheer to the season for us all,” said Michelle Wirth, who co-owns Mercedes-Benz of Springfield with husband Peter Wirth.

The Beep & Greet will take place Friday and Saturday, Dec. 11 and 12, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Springfield Museums, and is an opportunity for families in cars to wave from a social distance to the Grinch and Santa.

“We figure this is an excellent way to share Grinchy joy while also keeping safe,” said Jenny Powers, Family Engagement coordinator for Springfield Museums.

Each family receives one free book per car and one Grinch-themed craft per child. Children will also have an opportunity to drop off a letter to Santa and check with his elves to see if they are on the infamous ‘naughty or nice’ list. Springfield Museums are offering in-person “Grinchmas” programming throughout December, as well as the holiday exhibit “Gingerbread in Wonderland.”

Daily News

CHICOPEE — The Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce announced that Mercedes-Benz of Springfield was chosen as its Community Service Award recipient. This award honors a business, nonprofit, or individual which has benefited the lives of the Amherst-area community through their work and outreach.

“We are proud to honor Mercedes-Benz of Springfield in recognition of their outreach efforts through their ‘Driven by Community’ platform,” the awards committee noted. “The lives and jobs of the Amherst-area community benefited greatly, especially at this difficult time.”

The Driven by Community platform officially launched in March, although it has been implemented at the dealership since the doors opened three years ago.

Since then, Mercedes-Benz of Springfield has partnered with more than 250 local organizations, raised more than $20,000 when COVID-19 impacted local businesses, and hosted numerous fundraising and charity events at the dealership — most recently, a drive-in movie night with proceeds donated to the Urban League of Springfield to support its mission.

The virtual A+ Awards Show will be livestreamed from Hadley Farms Meeting House on Thursday, Nov. 12. Mercedes-Benz of Springfield is proud to be honored alongside Lifetime Achievement Award winner Betsey McInnis of Family Outreach of Amherst, Leader in Innovation Award winner Phoenix Fruit Farm of Belchertown, Leader in Sustainability Award winner Kestrel Land Trust of Amherst, Young Professional Award winner Ash Crawford of Amherst Coffee, Chamber MVP Award winner Lisa Eugin of Encharter Insurance, and a COVID Hero to be announced live.

Daily News

CHICOPEE — Mercedes-Benz of Springfield is hosting a drive-in movie fundraiser on Saturday, July 18 to benefit the Urban League of Springfield. Live band Malado is performing at 7:30 p.m, and the movie, The Lion King, starts at 9 p.m. All are invited to attend, and to arrive early to secure a spot.

Suggested donation is $20 per vehicle if tickets are purchased in advance and $30 per vehicle if purchased at the door. Purchase tickets in advance by clicking here.

“We are so excited to bring this fun summer pastime back to the area,” said Michelle and Peter Wirth, owners of the dealership. “All participants can feel great about supporting those doing meaningful and important work in our local community, and have fun doing it.”

The Urban League of Springfield serves the African-American community in Greater Springfield by advocating for and providing model services that enhance the academic and social development of young people and families, promoting economic self-sufficiency, and fostering racial inclusion and social justice.

“We are extremely gratified by the philanthropic spirit of the Wirth family providing this great opportunity to raise money to support our programs and activities,” said Henry Thomas, Urban League president and CEO. “Social responsibility is critically important these days, and Mercedes-Benz of Springfield just gets it.”

Visit www.mbspringfield.com/drivein for safety guidelines and complete details.

Coronavirus Sections Special Coverage

Dropping Down a Gear

By George O’Brien

Steve Lewis spends a good amount of each winter in Florida, and this year was no exception. He was planning on returning to the Northeast in late February, but eventually saw little point in doing so.

As February turned to March, there was even less incentive.

“I figure if you’re going to work from home, you might as well do it where it’s warm and sunny, and where you can play golf,” said Lewis, owner of Steve Lewis Subaru in Hadley, whose Florida address is the Delray Beach area.

But, make no mistake, he is, like most people, WFH, and from Florida he has a very clear picture of what’s happening at his dealership — and within the auto industry itself — during this pandemic. As it is for most all businesses, this an ultra-challenging time that comes with some learning curves and a great deal of uncertainty about what’s going to happen over the next several months.

Sales for March and April of this year are down roughly 50% from what they were over this same period last year, said Lewis, echoing others we spoke with on that estimate. Meanwhile, service work is better, but not as good as in ‘normal’ times. Meanwhile, methods of doing business have changed, with both sales and a good amount of service being undertaken with the customer never visiting the dealership.

And as the pandemic continues, many in the industry, including those we spoke with, said these trends will continue, to one extent or another, even after people are talking about this virus in the past tense.

“We saw this coming — we slowly started to see this change,” said Carla Cosenzi, president of TommyCar Auto Group, referring to everything from online buying to pick-up and drop-off for service work. “We were one of the dealers that believed this this was going to be the future, and I believe this will train the consumer on just how easy it is to buy a car online. And I think this will push online buying to happen for car dealers sooner than it may have if the virus hadn’t happened. But this was coming.”

As for volume of sales, it is obviously down dramatically, as those projections for year-over-year numbers would indicate. But they’re actually better than some people thought they might be, and they might get better still if consumers gain the confidence to take advantage of a number of incentives now being offered.

“I don’t think I’ve seen a better time to buy in all the years that I’ve been in this business,” said Lewis, who has a roughly a half-century under his belt. Elaborating, he listed everything from lower sticker prices to deferred payments; from gas prices now under $2 a gallon (and likely headed lower) to lower insurance costs resulting from people driving less.

Peter Wirth, co-owner of Mercedes Benz of Springfield, agreed that these incentives might be enough to inspire some people who were thinking about buying or leasing and needed something to incite them to action.

“There are some people where it doesn’t matter what the incentives are, they won’t buy a car, and there are people who would have bought the car with or without the incentives,” he explained. “And then there this is middle piece where you can maybe push someone over the edge — they’ll buy if they think they’re getting a really good deal. That has happened, and it’s probably going to continue to happen through May and into the summer.”

And if these incentives aren’t enough, there’s ongoing speculation that, because many car manufacturers have shut down entirely or shifted to making respirators or other products, there may come a day — when, no one can really say — when getting the model you want might become more difficult.

For now, the lots are full, manufacturers and dealers are providing incentives to help clear that inventory, and the world waits to see if and when the economy improves to the point where more people gain the needed confidence to make such a large and important purchase.

That’s the view from Florida, and right here in Western Mass. as well, as this sector works to drive through something that no one currently working within it has dealt with before.

Hitting the Brakes

Lewis told BusinessWest his main role at the dealership with his name on it is to act as a type of cheerleader for his staff. And in the middle of a pandemic, if that’s where we are, there isn’t much need for a cheerleader.

“I get people up and running, but the people who are there are maxed out,” he explained. “We’re bringing people back bit by bit because our business is increasing on a daily basis, but we’re certainly not there yet.”

Elaborating, he said maybe half the company’s employees are back at the dealership, with the service department “insanely busy,” as he put it, and sales working its way back, but volume still well off last year’s pace during what is traditionally a good time for dealers.

On the service side, Lewis, like others we spoke with, said there’s a lot of recall work being done, and some routine, or scheduled, maintenance, but certainly not as much, because people aren’t driving as much, and they’re less inclined to visit the dealership for service — even those who drive the brand he sells.

“Subaru people are very diligent — if they’re 200 miles over their oil change, they think they’re going straight to hell,” said Lewis. “They say, ‘am I OK, is everything OK?’ And we say, ‘yeah, you’re OK.’”

Meanwhile, much of the service work being undertaken doesn’t involve visits to the dealership anyway, as those we spoke with said the pick-up/drop-off method is becoming increasingly popular, and it is likely to stick once this is over. And even those who do come to the dealership for service can’t hang out in the waiting room — at least to the extent they once did — so they’re given a loaner car, even if it’s only for a few hours.

To conduct this type of service, a dealership needs to build an infrastructure, meaning both staff to do the picking up and dropping off and the loaner cars to be left with customers while their vehicle is being worked on. And those we spoke with have been doing just that.

Indeed, Cosenzi said TommyCar saw this coming and put an operation in place. It’s called TommyCar Go.

“We had the infrastructure in place before COVID-19 struck, so it wasn’t a difficult transition for us,” she explained. “We already had the loaner fleet, we already had the personnel in place, we already had the advertising in place and the website organized; for us, we were ahead of the curve when many other dealerships were scrambling to get their operations in place.”

Wirth said Mercedes-Benz now has a fleet of 40 brand-new cars and a team of staff members he would like to grow that is assigned to picking up and dropping off, a service that was starting to catch on before the pandemic forced everyone into their homes, but now has become much more popular.

“Consumers are adjusting to a new normal — they’re not done adjusting, but they are getting more used to it,” he told BusinessWest. “We’re doing more pick-up and drop-off than we ever have before, and we were doing a fair amount before that. And on the flip side, we’re very active with reaching out to people to get service campaigns or recalls that were pending that we would ordinarily just take care of the next time the car comes in.

“And some of this is going to stay with us; consumer behavior will change — it won’t be 180 degrees, but it will be different, and more people will be comfortable with pick-up and drop-off,” Wirth said, adding that his dealership is working to improve the process and is currently researching an app that will enable customers to track where the driver is and when he or she will make that pick-up or drop-off.

Providing Incentive

Meanwhile, patterns are changing on the sales side, again out of necessity. Consumers are doing their shopping online, and increasingly, they’re getting into a new car without having to get into the showroom. And often without leaving their home.

Buyers are directed to the dealers’ websites, the paperwork is now handled via e-mail and DocuSign, and cars are either picked up outside the dealership or, increasingly, in their driveway. And in keeping with the times, the cars are thoroughly sanitized before the keys change hands.

“These are hermetically sealed — they’re like an operating room when people pick them up,” said Lewis, echoing the sentiments of others and speaking for them when he said that dealers are doing their best to make sure buyers get a full tutorial on how everything works, even if the sales associate isn’t sitting in the passenger seat explaining each feature, as has historically been the case.

“Through the internet, we go over the car as best we can,” he explained. “And we invite them back in when this is all over for a complete tour of their automobile.”

Cosenzi agreed. “We’ve done a lot of FaceTiming and Google conferencing, and we’ve set up every kind of conference, from Skype to Google — whatever the customer wants,” she said in reference to creating opportunities to learn all about their car. “There’s been a lot of Webexing.”

As for sales volume, as noted earlier, those numbers are well off last year’s pace, but in some respects better than some might have expected given the damage done to the economy, the huge numbers of people now unemployed, and the high degree of uncertainty when it comes to the future and when the region and the country can return to something approaching normal.

“The way we’re tracking now, April’s going to be about 50% of what it was last year, which is better than we thought,” said Wirth, noting that all the sales have been handled online. “In the beginning, people were thinking that there was no business to be had, but gradually things improved.”

Cosenzi agreed. “There was a lull at the beginning when this first happened,” she noted. “I think everyone was in shock and was really scared. But now, the manufacturers have come out with so many amazing offers, we’re seeing people want to take advantage of that.”

Indeed, the incentives have come in a number of forms, from lower prices, to deferred payments, to protection if the buyer loses their job to COVID-19, and they are commanding the attention of many consumers.

Because most sales are internet-driven, Lewis said, he’s drawing business from a wider geographic area as people shop for the best deal.

“People are really shopping for the best dollar now,” he explained, “because there’s no sales personality involved in the sale; it’s all through the internet, and it’s all about who has the best price, and our pricing is such that we need to move their cars.”

Indeed, his dealership, like most at the moment, has plenty of cars. Lewis said his dealership has a full lot, more cars stored elsewhere, and it’s currently holding up cars at Subaru’s port of entry in Rhode Island.

“We have 150 new cars in stock, and about 100 used cars in stock,” he noted. “That’s about a month’s supply normally, but now it’s a two-months’ supply; we’re paying interest on them, so we’ve got to move them once the floodgates open; I could probably have 300 cars on site right now that are either delivered and on the lot or allocated to us, and we’ve held their delivery up because we don’t have any place to put them.”

Lots of Questions

If sales pick up, as some project they might, and those inventories are depleted, getting new supplies of cars might become more difficult until the manufacturers ramp up production again, noted those we spoke with.

But that day is far off, and there is still a great amount of uncertainty about what can and will happen over the next few months or even the next few weeks, as the stay-at-home order has been extended to at least May 18.

For now, dealers are coping with lots of cars, lots of questions, new ways of doing things, and trends that might become the new norm.

It’s all part of life for a sector that was moving in the fast lane but has had to drop down a gear — or two. Or three.

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Autos

The ‘Attainability Factor’

Peter Wirth says the new A-Class presents a huge opportunity

Peter Wirth says the new A-Class presents a huge opportunity to showcase the attainability of several Mercedes models.

Since opening its doors roughly 16 months ago, Peter Wirth says, Mercedes-Benz of Springfield has met or exceeded most all of its stated goals and expectations.

Save one, perhaps.

Indeed, if it is lagging in any aspect of its multi-faceted operation, it is in the broad realm of educating customers across its broad service area that a Mercedes is affordable — or ‘attainable,’ the word he and the industry prefer to use.

It’s not from lack of trying, he said, before adding quickly that the company will try even harder, but probably more a function of the fact that there hadn’t been a Mercedes dealership in the 413 area for a full decade before this one opened on the site of the old Schine Inn just off Route 291 in Chicopee.

And this helps explain why residents of this area might not be as enlightened as those in other markets when it comes to the fact that ‘Mercedes’ and ‘affordable’ can co-exist in the same sentence.

“We missed out on all that communication, getting the cars into the marketplace, talking about them, and showing them,” he said of that 10-year hiatus, during which the carmaker greatly expanded and diversified its lineup.

But Mercedes now has an additional arrow in this quiver of attainability and another intriguing talking point, he said, with the introduction of the A-Class, which will begin rolling into showrooms, including the one in Chicopee, next month. It joins the CLA, introduced several years ago, and the GLA model SUV as Mercedes models that start at under $40,000, and Wirth expects it to be a significant addition to the portfolio.

“We feel that this is a unique opportunity for us to educate consumers in this market,” he said. “This is the first big launch of a car that’s going to shape the brand perception since we opened.”

That’s because the A-Class is about more than affordability, he told BusinessWest. It’s also about technology and a leap from traditional luxury to what Mercedes is calling ‘modern luxury,’ meaning features like MBUX.

“We feel that this is a unique opportunity for us to educate consumers in this market. This is the first big launch of a car that’s going to shape the brand perception since we opened.”

That stands for Mercedes-Benz User Experience, which the carmaker, and Wirth, tout as the next generation of user-friendly technology. The MBUX user interface allows the driver to use voice commands to control everything from the radio station and the volume level to the temperature in the cabin.

“The system is easy to learn because it actually learns you,” said Wirth, adding that the technology comes to understand the driver’s habits, right down to the preferred radio stations and music. “This is something that will trickle up into the other cars over time, but it’s something we’re phasing in with the new entry point to the brand.”

The A-Class is equipped with MBUX, hailed as the next generation of user-friendly technology.

The A-Class is equipped with MBUX, hailed as the next generation of user-friendly technology.

It was explained — sort of — in a commercial that first aired during the Super Bowl. It wasn’t rated high in any of the ‘best of’ polls, but you might have seen it. A young, professional-looking male starts to see everything he says come to fruition, from an ATM spitting out money after he gives the command ‘make it rain,’ to an opera singer magically transforming into rapper Ludacris when he says ‘change the music.’

The trend continues when he gets behind the wheel of his Mercedes A-Class and voices several commands, including ‘change the color’ — and the dashboard lights do just that — as well as ‘make it cooler,’ and ‘play my music.’ The commercial ends with the ‘voice’ saying ‘if only everything in your life listened to you like your new Mercedes.’

Wirth gave similar commands as he gave a demonstration of the first A-Class to arrive at his dealership. Starting each conversation — because that’s what these are — with ‘hey, Mercedes,’ he proceeded to turn the heat up by merely saying ‘I’m cold,’ receive directions to a downtown Springfield business, and get a rundown on the restaurants within a mile’s radius of the dealership.

Meanwhile, the dashboard instrumentation can be changed electronically to display anything the driver wants, from the odometer and tachometer to things like speed limit and the range the car can go on the amount of gas left in the tank.

As for the affordability factor, the A-Class has a base sticker price of $32,000 (which includes a considerable amount of standard equipment, including a sunroof and the user interface), and most will price out at under $40,000.

That’s a number that wouldn’t surprise most people in other markets, who have had a Mercedes dealership to visit through this decade and have become aware of several models that fall into the ‘affordable’ category. But it might still surprise many in this region.

And with that, Wirth revisited another Super Bowl commercial, the one for the CLA model, which debuted at $29,000. It was a spot that turned some heads and put a Mercedes in driveways where one had never been.

“That was a big bang — that was eye-opening for many people,” he said, adding that the CLA, which remains popular, would go on to secure what’s known in the business as a ‘high conquest rate,’ meaning that people were opting out of the cars they were driving and into the new Mercedes model.

This is significant, he said, because, conversely, Mercedes has one of the highest loyalty rates within the industry, meaning that once they own or lease one, the Mercedes customer is very likely to go back for another.

“This is hugely important to us because we feel like we’re establishing a relationship with someone and giving exposure to our brand to people who will ultimately keep on doing business with us going forward,” he said. “They will have kids, they’ll maybe want an SUV at some point, so filling that pipeline with customers is important.”

The company is hoping for a similarly high conquest rate with the A-Class, which can turn heads not just with its styling and price tag, but also the user-friendly technology.

If they’re right, more people will be saying ‘hey, Mercedes,’ before and after they get in the car.

— George O’Brien