Snows Motor Group's Mercedes-Benz Van Centre Exeter has been awarded accreditation as a Mercedes-Benz Van ProCentre just 10 months after it opened for business.

The award comes after the Hennock Road dealership benefitted from a newly-refurbished showroom and workshop.

Mercedes-Benz Van Centre Exeter’s director, Alex Domone, said: “The Van ProCentrescheme is designed to ensure that customers enjoy the finest acquisition and ownership experiences.

“Only the very best Dealers have been able to meet all of its stringent requirements, so the fact that we’ve done so within a year of our appointment as a Mercedes-Benz Vans Dealer is a source of great pride for the entire company team.”

“We’re still a very new member of the Mercedes-Benz Vans family, but following the investments we’ve made in recruitment and training, and with the full backing of our manufacturer partner, we now have the perfect platform from which to grow the business.” 

Mercedes-Benz Van ProCentre Dealers are required to demonstrate ‘best-in-class’ brand and product presentation. The Exeter showroom – which features a nine-screen interactive TV display as well as numerous other high-tech solutions – represents the “best example yet”, of a facility that mirrors Mercedes-Benz Vans’ increasingly retail-focused approach, a statement issued by the brand said.

Van ProCentre must keep extended opening hours for customer convenience and meet the manufacturer’s strict requirements on everything from sales staff numbers, their training, qualifications and expertise in specific models and business sectors, to advice on bodybuilding options and the availability of demonstration vehicles for test drives at short notice.

They are also required to provide a broad range of used vans, and offer customers fair and transparent trade-in deals on their own vehicles.

From an aftersales perspective, meanwhile, Van ProCentre Dealers must have specially trained service advisors and technicians, and ensure customer mobility by laying on replacement vehicles, and collection and delivery services.

Mercedes-Benz Vans managing director, Steve Bridge, said: “When selecting our new Dealer partner last year, we had to ensure that not only would it be the right ‘fit’ for our business now, but that it would also be best-placed in the future to adapt to the changing requirements of our customers’ businesses.

“By meeting and in several cases exceeding so soon after their appointment all of the many strict standards necessary to become a Mercedes-Benz Van ProCentre, Alex and his highly professional team have confirmed that we made the right decision a year ago.

“Our commitment at Mercedes-Benz Vans is always to keep businesses moving. I have every confidence that the Mercedes-Benz Van Centre Exeter will deliver on this pledge, and that its customers can look forward to the very best service, not only when ordering and taking delivery of their new vehicles, but also once they’re on the road.”