CEO Klaus Maier leads the luxury icon to the next level

Since taking his position as president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz (China) Ltd in 2007, Klaus Maier led the group from yearly sales of less than 20,000 cars in 2006 to a record high of 147,670 in 2010.
Mercedes-Benz wrapped up 2010 on a high note by posting its best sales month, with December deliveries surpassing 18,190 cars on the Chinese mainland, a 94 percent increase from the same month in 2009.
It was the first month Mercedes-Benz outperformed all its competitors to become the best-selling premium automaker in the nation.
Brisk full-year 2010 sales enabled Mercedes to claim the crown of the fastest growing luxury brand for the third consecutive year.
To get further closer to Chinese customers, last year Maier helped establish regional headquarters in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to meet the demand of markets across the nation, saying he fully believes that one must first deeply understand the market and customers".
"We are proud on what we have achieved and we are confident of our future development here in China. However, what we care about the most is not the growth by volume, but the growth in quality and brand know-how," said Maier.
China is Mercedes-Benz's third-biggest market in the world behind only the United States and its home market in Germany.
"With our fastest growth rate, we expect China to become the largest market for Mercedes-Benz by 2015," said Maier. "Moreover, in line with our growing success, we expect to sell 300,000 cars annually in 2015."
For the new year of 2011, Maier predicts China's overall automobile market will grow 10 to 15 percent, with the luxury segment growing even faster.
"Our target is to make Mercedes grow faster than the total luxury vehicle segment in 2011," said Maier.
To maintain its leadership in growth, Mercedes will add 25 to 30 dealers this year and again annually for the next three years. Its current 166 dealers cover 80 cities in China.
"And our future dealership expansion will focus more in China's second- and third-tier cities to tap the potential there," said Maier.
Anchoring its claim to leadership is Mercedes-Benz's role as inventor of the automobile itself, augmented by its current brand values of responsibility, fascination and perfection, Maier said.
"All things considered,this is about looking for the best solution in each case and about making our best offer to our clients," said Maier.
"Considering Mercedes-Benz brand the most precious asset, we want to achieve our slogan of 'the best or nothing' in all aspects, fitting in with our history and tradition as well underlining and reinforcing the things that make our brand unique."