Mercedes-Benz India introduced Michael Jopp as the vice president of Sales and Marketing, initiating his term from August 1, 2016.

Jopp replaced Boris Fitz who completed his tenure with Benz India and will now be taking over a supposedly bigger role at Benz Turkey. Fitz completed his four years as the head of sales and marketing network development in 2016.

In an official statement from managing director and CEO for Mercedes-Benz India, Roland Folger, it has been stressed that Fitz played a very effective role in carving the sales success story for Benz in India, especially in the heap of unpredictable market changes that affected the business in the past few years. Folger credits Fitz for developing significant and qualitative dealer networks and for forming dense business relationships with dedicated dealer partners.

In the year end of December 2015, Benz India registered its sales numbers in the country, notably the highest ever in this region, of 13, 502 units. However, in the first half of the year 2016, the numbers have been a little lagging than those of last year, dipping marginally with a difference of sixty two units. Where Benz saw a sale of 6,659 units in the January to June of 2015, in the similar stretch of 2016, this number came down to 6,597. Benz excused itself out of this dip, stating that the slight staggering occurred due to the ban in one of its key regions of sale, Delhi and NCR, on vehicles above 2000 cc.

Folger adds to his statement that Benz India is both happy and expectant of Jopp’s arrival and hopes to see Jopp take the division to new heights in his tenure, keeping the momentum of development going.

It is critical here to state that Michael Jopp is stepping into some really big shoes which will need work to fit into, given that the company expects him to work his magic and get the numbers soaring once again, in light of the recent stumble it has faced. But with the resume that Michael Jopp brings along, it appears that Benz India has made the decision of choosing its new vice president of sales and marketing with utter carefulness.

Michael Jopp comes from Mercedes-Benz Cars Deutschland in Berlin, where he is responsible for directing sales strategy, sales performance and managing profits. With an experience strip that covers almost two decades of his life, Jopp has worked with several branches of the automobile organisation and has a refined idea of sales, marketing management and product management. He has been with the domestic automobile industry of Germany as well as of several other international markets. He has been on the side of the OEM or original equipment manufacturer and he has been on the side of the distributor, from time to time, which gives Jopp the idea of both the facets of the deal, making him an asset with respect to his professional ecosystem.

Jopp has completed his MBA from Goizueta Business School of Emory University in Atlanta. Other than making the sales numbers kneel to his strategies, Jopp also enjoys literature, golf and travelling.