Comments
Car companies such as Mercedes-Benz and General Motors, both of whom have a century-old rich heritage in the automotive space, are now turning back the clock in a brand-building effort.
As part of a plan to leverage their extensive antique car range in the world's second-fastest growing auto market - India, Mercedes-Benz is planning an antique car auction in about a year's time.
This is part of a year-long tie-up with leading domestic art auction house, Saffronart, for branding and promotion of the arts.
“We have many ideas in this tie-up, including the auction of vintage cars. We have started discussions with our headquarters in Germany and they are enthusiastic about it. We own a lot of cars at our museum (in Germany) and elsewhere – so, it's not a bad idea.
“We needed to talk more about the brand … something to do with sharpening it.
“This (marketing expenses) is investment for the future, which is still not enough from my perspective … we need more,” Mr Peter T. Honegg, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mercedes-Benz India, said.
Vintage car auction
Mercedes, a 125-year-old German automaker, lays claims to be the maker of the world's first petrol-powered motor car – Karl Benz's patented design – dating back to 1886.
The first Mercedes-Benz brand name vehicles were produced in 1926, following the merger of Karl Benz's and Gottlieb Daimler's companies into the Daimler-Benz company.
Its partner, Saffronart, is also considering increasing the scope of vintage car auctions to other old brands in the country such as Cadillac, Rolls-Royce, Austin and Morris Minor.
The auction house is in talks with peopleacross the country with large private collections.
These include industrialists, as well as families of erstwhile ‘Maharajas'.
In a similar brand-building initiative, General Motors (GM) also held a ‘Chevrolet Vintage Car Drive' in October last year.
One of the big three US automakers, GM's origins date back to 1908.
The company, which also has brands such as Buick and GMC, was the second largest global automaker in 2010 after Japan's Toyota.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.