Newly-emerged class including tuition masters and beauticians enthralled by Mercs’ cars
Pursuing its ‘75th year of strategy’ in creating benchmark in modern motoring technology, Diesel and Motor Engineering PLC (DIMO) this week inaugurated Sri Lanka’s largest Mercedes-Benz Centre with an investment of Rs. 2.5 billion at Sirimavo Bandaranaike
DIMO Chairman Ranjith Pandithage
Mawatha in Colombo 14.
The Centre has been designed and constructed with an emphasis on minimising the impact on the environment.
It employs the latest green technology such as façade cooling, and shading devices, low emissive prismatic sky-lighting to utilise natural daylight, rain water harvesting and grey water reuse and a building management system that efficiently controls the air conditioning system, lighting, access control and much more.
It is being considered for the internationally recognised LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), USA certification programme that recognises best-in-class building strategies and practices, officials said.
“With the inauguration of Sri Lanka’s largest state-of-the-art, Mercedes-Benz Centre not only reiterates its excellence in providing a modern car experience to customers in newer markets, but also underscores DIMO’s dominance in creating the most qualitative and dense network reach countrywide by any luxury car maker in the country,” Ranjith Pandithage, Chairman and Managing Director of the company said.
Despite the sluggish auto market due to heavy taxes, there is a demand for Mercedes-Benz from a newly-emerged high earning and heavy spending class of young and middle-aged Sri Lankans like IT professionals, project consultants, specialist doctors, private tuition masters, businessmen as well as beauticians, he revealed.
DIMO’s extensive branch network with more than 17 touch points across the island together with 24 hour roadside assistance gives all Mercedes-Benz customers a sense of security and confidence wherever they may be with personalised and caring service, which DIMO
The swanky Mercedes-Benz Centre
is renowned for years, Mr. Pandithage told the Business Times.
The after-sales service facility—consisting of 85 work bays with cutting-edge manufacturer approved tools and equipment—is the central point that is dedicated to cater to all services, maintenance and accident repairs.
“As the Mercedes-Benz representative in Sri Lanka for seven and half decades, we work continually to improve our service levels, and want to offer our customers the kind of service that more often surpasses their individual needs,” he said.
Peter Alexander Trettin, President and CEO Daimler Central/Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia noted that he was impressed about the progress achieved by DIMO through the partnership that the two organisations have sustained for over seven decades. Moreover, it is an endorsement of the exclusivity that Daimler AG has awarded to DIMO for all Mercedes-Benz operations in Sri Lanka, he added
The new Mercedes-Benz Centre spans across an area of 15,800 square metres with an ingeniously designed building of exceptional aesthetic beauty. Hovering over the entire center is the 3-Pointed Star signage visible for miles across the city of Colombo. The centre comprises a display of Mercedes-Benz vehicles, both new and pre-owned, at a showroom with trained and experienced professionals at hand, hospitable customer lounge areas with a café along with a devoted range of exclusive accessories and AMG (high performance Mercedes-Benz models) merchandise.
A modern fully-equipped training centre offers educational courses conducted by certified Mercedes-Benz instructors for all DIMO staff and students of the DIMO Automobile Training School. Also included is a state-of-the-art auditorium and a vintage museum featuring classic Mercedes-Benz models.
“DIMO is not simply celebrating a new building being opened. In reality, it is the dawn of a new age of Mercedes-Benz and DIMO services in Sri Lanka that is unseen hardly anywhere in this part of the world,” Mr. Pandithage added.