Four corporate Mercedes-Benz Canada stores go up for sale in Vancouver

Out of 59 Canadian Mercedes-Benz stores, the German automaker owns 11 directly: two in Vancouver and two more in Richmond and North Vancouver. Another two dealerships in Surrey and Langley, B.C. are privately owned, according to Automotive News Canada.

Mercedes-Benz is also selling a body shop bundled with the North Vancouver store as part of its sale plan, the company said in a statement.

Though this “divestment program” was not vocally announced, Mercedes communications director JoAnne Caza said it was “not a secret.”

“The employees were informed first because we wanted to be honest and open and transparent so they knew exactly what was going on,” she continued.

These four Vancouver-based stores account for around 15 percent of the total Canadian sales volume for Mercedes-Benz. The sales were directed by the Daimler board, German parent company of the Canadian operations.

“For us here in Canada it was not something we were looking to do,” said president Brian Fulton. “It was something clearly not on our radar.”

But German parent company Daimler is applying its global strategy to sell off some corporate stores, including locations in “Australia, Britain, Belgium, and Germany, where 63 of 158 Mercedes dealerships have been sold since 2014.”

Automotive News Canada reports that Canada ranks in the top global position in terms of “own-store retail sales” as a percentage of overall volume for Mercedes.

Over the last 20 years, Mercedes Canada has sold off five corporate stores: three around Montreal, one in London, Ontario, and one in GTA’s Newmarket, Ontario.

Fulton says that out of the seven dealerships in the Toronto area, there are no plans to sell them off.

“There’s zero discussion right now with regards to Toronto,” said Fulton. In fact, he continued, new dealership property has just been acquired in Etobicoke.