Prof. Dr. Alexander Paufler, President & CEO of Mercedes-Benz (Thailand) Limited, pointed out reasons to implement this policy: “The stringent policy for our official After-sales Dealer Network to negate the warranty of P.I. vehicles is a measure to prevent risk associated with these vehicles, which have not been factory-customized to suit the driving conditions in Thailand and may incur damage or increase the risk of road accidents. In addition, clear information about their production is not present in our database and will be a problem should a corresponding model have any kind of eventual service measure. As a result, we have decided to put this policy into effect as of August 30.”
Key details of the adoption fee policy can be summarized as follows:

• Every Mercedes-Benz vehicle from the official Dealer Network of Mercedes-Benz (Thailand) comes with 3-year manufacturer’s warranty with no mileage restriction, plus an exclusive “Star Assist” program of 24-hour roadside assistance. After-sales service can be provided to P.I. Mercedes-Benz vehicles, but a one-time non-refundable adoption fee of maximum 500,000 baht (specific amount varies by model of vehicle) shall apply for all new registration to the official After-sales Dealer Network of Mercedes-Benz (Thailand). Every vehicle applying for adoption is subject to verification of its features and specifications, and each new registration must be approved by Mercedes-Benz (Thailand) Limited before any work commences.

• The adoption fee policy applies to all P.I. Mercedes-Benz vehicles produced after January 1, 2011. However, if the vehicle has a record of visiting an authorized Mercedes-Benz service center in Thailand or a warranty history via an authorized Mercedes-Benz service center in Thailand before August 30, 2011, the adoption fee will be waived, but an adoption application is still required. Warranty jobs will not be offered to any P.I. Mercedes-Benz vehicle without approved adoption application.

•  Vehicles will be subject to verification of features and specifications. If approval is granted, only items/features/specifications which are homologated officially as Thailand standard items/features/specifications are covered under warranty. The registration fee provides the P.I. Mercedes-Benz vehicle a standard warranty term of maximum 2 years. The exact end date of the warranty period will be based on the specific delivery date of the vehicle from a Daimler AG company or Authorized Dealer to the first customer.

• Adoption policy and application will only be offered to end consumer who own the P.I. vehicle (or leasing company in case the P.I. vehicle is being financed). It is not possible for parallel importing companies to register P.I. vehicles in the official After-sales Dealer Network of Mercedes-Benz (Thailand).

Prof. Dr. Paufler concluded: “We will continue to put our relentless effort to raise the standards of our after-sales service because driving safety has always been and will always be a key mission at Mercedes-Benz.”