Mercedes-Benz Financial to Equip 40 Dealerships With Apple IPads

Mercedes-Benz Financial, in a move designed to quicken credit approval and allow sales personnel to check available promotions without leaving the showroom floor, will be equipping 40 select dealers with Apple iPads. It will then make the necessary changes to the mobile device before potentially switching over all dealerships to the system later this year.

A first in the industry, the iPad announcement should come as no surprise given Mercedes-Benz’s highly successful introduction of their iPhone app, which lets customers make car payments via their mobile phone. Since its introduction last October, this iPhone app has been downloaded over 13,000 times.

As for Mercedes-Benz’s new iPad program, the company says the use of this highly versatile new device will also cut the amount of time it takes to process a returned lease vehicle by allowing the task to be done wirelessly in front of the customer without leaving the parking lot or showroom floor.

“We see the iPad providing wireless mobility, information and flexibility on the showroom floor. The iPad will provide a competitive advantage to our dealers by increasing their service levels through a more flexible financing process,” said Andreas Hinrichs, vice president of marketing for Mercedes-Benz Financial.

Having sold over 2 million iPads since its launch on April 3rd, the consumer and corporate interest in Apple’s latest and greatest device appears to know no bounds at the moment. If we were the gambling types ($20 on Lewis Hamilton to win the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix!), we’d wager good money that the iPad will soon be making similar appearances in other luxury brand showrooms, if for no other reason than to appear as hip and tech-savvy as the early adopters from Stuttgart.

[Source: Inside Line]