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Mercedes-Benz India launches 'SKYLine' with Zoho to reshape customer service journey
The new system fully digitizes the entire service lifecycle, eliminating paper-based processes and fragmented systems.
Mercedes-Benz has announced the launch of ‘SKYLine’, a bespoke, end-to-end Dealer Management System (DMS) developed entirely in India in partnership with Zoho. This new platform, built on Zoho CRM and Zoho's workflow orchestration tool, Qntrl, is set to transform the customer service journey across the brand's nationwide dealership network.
SKYLine is touted as a "technology marvel" that moves Mercedes-Benz India away from its legacy infrastructure toward a cutting-edge, decentralized architecture. The core innovation lies in its ability to grant each dealership autonomy via its own dedicated Zoho CRM instance while maintaining central control and adhering to OEM-defined standards.
The new system fully digitizes the entire service lifecycle, eliminating paper-based processes and fragmented systems. It orchestrates a comprehensive suite of customer-facing and back-end services, including:
The Service Experience: SKYLine manages the full spectrum of service processes, from online service booking and digital check-in to vehicle inspection, live job tracking, proactive customer communication, and post-service feedback collection. Crucially, it will soon activate real-time estimate approvals.
Behind-the-Scenes Efficiency: Beyond core service, the platform streamlines diverse dealership operations, including managing courtesy car availability via visual dashboards and centralizing workflows for the fast-growing pre-owned vehicle refurbishment and resale segment. Embedded analytics provide real-time, data-driven insights to both dealership managers and the OEM headquarters.
Mani Vembu, CEO of Zoho, emphasized the unique technical challenge solved by the partnership. "When Mercedes-Benz India came to us with a vision that had no off-the-shelf solution, we saw an opportunity to build something truly unique," Vembu said.
To achieve the twin goals of dealership autonomy and OEM control without modifying Mercedes-Benz's core European HQ systems, Zoho co-created a vertical, multi-instance architecture. This included developing a robust transformation layer and middleware capabilities alongside Qntrl to manage data synchronization and handle legacy communication protocols (REST, SOAP, file-based) seamlessly.
The highly complex deployment was backed by over 5,000 man-days of user acceptance testing and 3,000 man-days of training, ensuring smooth adoption across all locations and marking one of the most strategically significant DMS launches in the region.
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