In the 2012 Dealership Experience Strategy Report, Mercedes-Benz was named among the top automotive companies where dealership experience is concerned. This aspect of the business is considered by Foresight Research, the firm that conducted the study, as an important one because of the changes caused by the recent recession.

According to the study, older buyers have been increasingly taking up the share of sales for new vehicles. For these older demographic, more modern forms of marketing communications don’t come into play too often, making the dealership experience an important facet of the sale. The study further concluded that buyers in general tended to go for dealerships that had good inventories, offered financing, and provided quick quote responses, among other things.

“With older buyers we historically have seen higher levels of brand and dealership loyalty,” said Foresight Research CEO Steve Bruyn. “That is not the case today. Manufacturers and dealers must refocus their marketing to seasoned buyers.”

Foresight Research was founded in 1998 and conducts studies on various purchase decision influences in different industries.