DELIVERY IN GERMANY

Before long, I was on a KLM flight to Stuttgart via Amsterdam and, shortly thereafter, TDD European Editor Christian Stampfer and I were arriving at the Kundencenter.

The Mercedes-Benz Kundencenter is in Sindelfingen, which is near Stuttgart in the province of Baden-Würtemburg.   The Kundencenter, which opened in 1981, is capable of handling as many as 400 deliveries each day, although 250 is a more typical figure.  An average of six each day are part of the European Delivery program.

At the Kundencenter, we were greeted as we arrived by taxi and Kundencenter staff immediately offered to store our luggage until our car was ready for delivery.  As we entered, we were offered an alcohol-free Mercedes-Benz-Cocktail, which is a blend of grapefruit juice, pineapple juice, sour cherry nectar, passion fruit nectar, and tonic water. We were then escorted to Susanne Meyer-Elmenhorst, who would complete our paperwork and manage the overall delivery process.

After the paperwork was done, Frau Meyer-Elmenhorst escorted us to the Galerie, a balcony that overlooks the new-car delivery area.  Here the proud owner can see his new Mercedes-Benz for the very first time.  Customers can also relax in the adjacent café, which serves complimentary snacks and drinks.  A full-service restaurant is on the ground floor as is a children’s play area and Mercedes-Benz gift store.

The Kundencenter is more than just a delivery center, it houses rotating exhibits as well. The current exhibit, “125! Jahre Innovation” (125 Years of Innovation), celebrates the 125th anniversary of the automobile (which, of course, Mercedes-Benz invented) and displays past models in contrast to the present and future of the car.

To take delivery, we returned to the ground floor and entered a waiting room where we met our delivery specialist; Ronald Gunning.  (This procedure will change shortly as Mercedes has built a dramatic staircase that customers will descend from the balcony.)

Herr Gunning escorted us onto the floor of the delivery area and brought us to the E350 BlueTec.  Since there were a lot of options and technology in the car that Chris and I were unfamiliar with, Herr Gunning explained everything to us.

Having mastered the car’s features and functions, we decided to have lunch at the Kundencenter’s restaurant before starting our drive to Maastricht.  We had already decided to put off our factory tour and museum visit until next month, when we will be driving a BMW 335d from Frankfurt to Munich, because it was a Friday afternoon in August and we expected to run into slow-moving traffic en route.

Chris and I both had the Zwiebelrostbraten (pan-seared steak with onions) with Spätzle  and the Mercedes dessert plate, which comes with a powdered chocolate Mercedes star atop the plate.  Lunch, needless to say, was delicious and soon we were heading down the appropriately-named Rudolf-Diesel-Straße to the Autobahn, en route to Maastricht.

VIRTUAL TOURS

A DAY AT THE MERCEDES-BENZ KUNDENCENTER

THE MERCEDES-BENZ E350 BLUETEC AT THE KUNDENCENTER

THE MERCEDES-BENZ E350 BLUETEC ARRIVES

THE FIRST DRIVE

RELATED ARTICLES

• The Road to Maastricht – Driving the Mercedes-Benz E350 BlueTec Diesel Sedan
• Introducing The Diesel Driver’s New Long-Term Auto: the 2011 Mercedes-Benz E350 BlueTec
• European Diesel Delivery Programs
• 2011 Mercedes-Benz E350 BlueTec Diesel Review and First Look
• 2012 Mercedes-Benz S350 BlueTec Review and First Test Drive

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