Mercedes Marketplace allows owners to sell their cars online

Mercedes-Benz India has just introduced a new online platform, called Marketplace, which caters to the purchase and sale of pre-owned cars. Mercedes claims it is a "direct customer to customer" platform that aims to increase transparency and create a hassle-free experience for customers purchasing or selling pre-owned cars.

• Allows Mercedes owners to sell their car
• Buyers get larger selection of used cars
• Mercedes facilitate the sale and purchase on used car

Mercedes-Benz Marketplace: what is it?

Marketplace is Mercedes’ latest online platform that aims to accommodate the sale and purchase of pre-owned vehicles. Building upon the brand’s existing digital shop and certified pre-owned collection, Marketplace now allows customers to directly sell their pre-owned vehicles. Customers can even sign-up to Marketplace offline by visiting their local Mercedes dealerships.

Pre-owned car buyers benefit from Marketplace in terms of choice and variety, as Mercedes has a much larger inventory of used cars here.

Mercedes-Benz Marketplace: how does it work?

For Mercedes owners wanting to sell their pre-owned cars on Marketplace, all they have to do is choose between the 'Sell your Car' tab – which is just for selling the car – and 'Trade-in' tab – which is for selling the car and upgrading to a new Mercedes. Once the tab is selected, they just need to fill in the relevant details of their vehicle. From here, Mercedes takes care of the car's evaluation, finding prospective buyers, arranging for test drives, and even ensuring completion of transactions between the buyer and the seller.

Pre-owned car buyers benefit from the fact that Mercedes will evaluate the car and facilitate its purchase, which includes organising the paperwork and transaction, thus making the process less cumbersome and simpler.

Marketplace's impact on Mercedes’ pre-owned car business

Mercedes claims that the online penetration of its used car business is 20 percent, and with the introduction of Marketplace, the carmaker expects it to increase to 30 percent. The carmaker also states that its franchise partners will benefit from the new platform, with there being a potential growth opportunity for both, new car (through trade-in) and pre-owned car business.

Mercedes-Benz India range

The German luxury carmaker has launched a bevy of new models in India this year, including the A-Class Limousine, second-gen GLA, E-Class facelift, new S-Class, Maybach GLS 600 and most recently, two new E-Class AMGs – the AMG E63 S and AMG E53.