In an attempt to increase the sales of the Smart brand, Mercedes-Benz made a move. First, create a new executive team which is called Daimler Vehicle Innovations USA, which is led by Tracey Matura. Matura was the general manager of Mercedes-Benz strategic retail development group before being asked to take on the new team that will revive smart.
The first thing the new team is doing is to incorporate smart cars in Mercedes' showrooms. Taking the top spot in the survey for customer satisfaction, this move aims to remind consumers that smart is also being made by Daimler group thus quality and superiority is innate in the vehicles. There are already 75 Mercedes dealerships that carry the brand, Matura's goal is to have 100 by year's end.
This move is being undertaken because of the poor sales performance of smart cars in the past year. Penske Group only sold about 5,927 smartfortwos last year.
