Gary Savage takes CEO and managing director role at Mercedes-Benz UK

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24 February 2014

Gary Savage has been appointed as chief executive and managing director of Mercedes-Benz UK following Marcus Breitschwerdt’s promotion to head of Mercedes-Benz Cars Europe.

Savage will report to Breitschwerdt.

Board changes at Mercedes-Benz UK

From January 2014 Mercedes-Benz UK formed three distinct divisions, each with its own dedicated senior management structure.

Savage became CEO Mercedes-Benz UK and managing director Mercedes-Benz Cars which includes his responsibilities in the car business as well as the group’s overall legal entity.

The commercial vehicles business has been organised into two divisions.

Michael Kamper became managing director Mercedes-Benz Trucks, and Steve Bridge was appointed managing director Mercedes-Benz Vans.

Within each business unit, cars, trucks and vans, other management staff will report into the relevant managing directors.

The changes mean that Mercedes-Benz UK now effectively runs as three distinct business divisions, each with its own business responsibility: Mercedes-Benz Cars, Mercedes-Benz Trucks, Mercedes-Benz Vans.

Mercedes-Benz Retail Group continues with managing director Mike Whittington, reporting into Savage; and Mercedes-Benz Financial Services continues as its own legal entity with managing director Bob Middleton.

Breitschwerdt said: “My years here with Mercedes-Benz UK felt extremely rewarding – what a great team in Milton Keynes and at our other corporate locations, what a great dealer organisation all over the country.

“Together we have spent incredible effort and together we have achieved quite a lot. I want to say a big thank you to my colleagues in the company and in the dealer body, for the fantastic cooperation and support. Looking forward I’m 100% sure that our new divisional and regional set up will help us to be even more dedicated to the customer and as a result even more successful in competition.

“I want to congratulate Gary Savage, Michael Kamper and Steve Bridge to their assignments and I know that they will continue the success story for Mercedes-Benz in the UK, contributing to our growth in Europe and worldwide.”

Comments (33)

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Comments

mohammed - 04/06/2015 11:08

Dear Sir, I have a complain to make and require your email address. Kind Regards mohammed
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- Richard Piercy - 08/11/2017 10:08
  
  Did you get the email address, I bet not. If you did please pass on.
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ilmi musa - 04/06/2015 20:10

bought a car from mercedes-benz, brentford tw8. car is faulty and is costing me a lot of money. does mercedes sale faulty cars and employ non responsible mechanichs ?!?!
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Professor Michael Henein - 12/06/2015 13:52

Dear Mr Savage I have a problem with a brand new faulty car and would like your email to send you my complaint against Leasplan.
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Martin ward - 14/06/2015 12:55

I always wanted to own a Mercedes benz that didn't turn into a rust bucket.. My wish or dream would be to own a new Mercedes in white but due to my past failures in life I could never ever afford one. Best of luck to Mr Gary Savage in his new role and may he remain top of his game for the future!!!
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Rob Palmer - 23/06/2015 16:53

I also purchased a car from Brentford TW8 UK Mercedes-Benz which is faulty on a number of fronts. Purchased it 25/03/15, Customer Service at Milton Keynes is appalling. An absolute nightmare of a company to deal with. But I am expected to keep paying for a vehicle which is not "fit for purpose" while they have ongoing investigations and try and find a cure.
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- Liz Nyavie - 01/07/2015 08:24
  
  I agree with Rob Palmer: I bought Mercedes A class in 2000, annually serviced by Mercedes: 5 years later I am told that the automatic gearbox has gone: cost to me will £4, 800: Customer service at Milton Keynes do nothing except confirm that protocol has been gone through!! Goodwill team have no goodwill!
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Dr Umair Mallick - 26/06/2015 12:41

Dear Mr Gary Savage, I am very sorry to say that I never had such a bad customer services from any dealership as I had with Mercedes Benz UK. I have a three year old car 21000 miles only which virtually just ran out of warranty. A fault was reported while in warranty and actual problem was overlooked and car was reported as non faulty by merecedes garage it was returned to me. Then it developed a major a failure whithin a few weeks (with similar noise recurring). Now I am being asked to contrinbute 25% of the costs instead of them covering full costs of repair which is gear box replacement. The way they handled the issue was appallling. I made repeated complaints and request to investigate this issue. I have been given verbal responses of various kinds and nothing that would explain logical details.. I would like to request for your assistance please.
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- Elizabeth Nyavie - 01/07/2015 08:38
  
  I have had a similar problem 5 years later with A160 diesel: automatic gearbox has failed after 5 years use. car has been annually serviced by Mercedes, Problem wasn't picked up at routine service even though I highlighted it. After further investigations and at a cost to me of £400 they detect the fault: option offered to me is to pay between £3,000-£4,000 towards replacement /fixing of gearbox! Is that a reasonable offer? I think not. And customer service say that protocol has been followed- well, is that helpful ? Is it reasonable to ask me to accept that an automatic gearbox (of Mercedes standard) should fail after 5 years' use. I think not. We pay for a high quality car and expect it to last. Your forum suggests that there are lots of problems and your company has no goodwill.
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Keith Prince - 08/07/2015 19:56

Dear Sir, after wanting to own a Mercedes for such a long time I have managed to pick up my new C220 AMG line from Newcastle MB.(27/06/15) The experience was fantastic and I was looked after by the staff there brilliantly. Unfortunately on the way home the engine management light came on and the add blue came on. I then booked the car in straight away into Warrington MB (01/07/15) and again the staff and service was fantastic. Then on 07/07/15 the engine management light and the add blue light came on again, Again I booked the car into Warrington MB ( (08/07/15 and I have received a call today to say that a pipe for the add blue has been damaged and it must of happened when the car was in production and the replacement pipe will be in on 09/07/15. I have only had the new car 12 days and it has been back to MB twice, I have had to make other arrangements for getting to work and unfortunately my experience in buying a brand new shiny C220 AMG has been nothing more than a let down. although the staff I have dealt with have been excellent it's a pity the car doesn't match the staff. I look forward to hearing your comments.
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Sharron Manley - 24/08/2015 16:27

Dear Mr G Savage I require your email address please to file a complaint. Many thanks Sharron Manley
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Raj Garg - 02/09/2015 17:46

Dear Gary, I purchased a new E-class, and the car was delivered damaged. The transporter acknowledged the damage at the time of delivery, the dealer is saying he will get it repaired, but no action in last 2 months. What an appalling service. Reported to customer services in Milton Keynes, but they are all jokers.
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Mr Neil Angle - 27/09/2015 12:56

Dear Sir, I have a complain to make and require your email address. Kind Regards.
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Kenneth McGrigor - 02/10/2015 11:58

Dear Mr Savage I have an insurance policy with MB renewal premium is £700.00 higher than a like for like quote which in fact has a lower excess, You automatically renewed my policy without instructions. Tried to call 28th, 29th and today being held for ever and gave up each time. Then went on your website to use My Insurance which came up with an error message. Then tried to e-mail you and received a error message 501-5-5-.2 Mailbox Invalid - How do you communicate with YOU!! The CS is damaging the brand. I have been a Long standing customer for over 30 years and recently having had 4 AMG. Post sales services has been at best poor and worst diabolical. The insurance offering CS poor and uncomplicated . Finally spoke to Julianne today after holding for 17.4 minutes to cancel the policy.
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Dave brown - 08/10/2015 15:49

Dear Mr savage I have been waiting for a door panel for my c220 merc since 10 July 2015 and I am now very frustrated at the way your company treat their customers I am being lied to by your employees at your Stratford branch in London ,Rick Roberts way saying that the part has been ordered then it was not ordered then cancelled and then ordered again then on back order since my first visit for a service your manager at this branch called Frank has not held up to his word stating I will now take this on it is not acceptable "leave it with me". surely this part does not take over 2 months to obtain I am waiting for my 3 rd Mercedes c250 any moment now I am now wishing I never ordered this I await in Ernest to hear from you to see if you hold up with your slogan that at Mercedes Benz we provide unparalleled customer service and state of the art service?
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Jill McCallum - 29/10/2015 20:27

I am not an owner of a Mercedes Benz car - sadly not in that league. However I have a grandson who is a student and proud owner of a Smart ebike which he got for his birthday. Unfortunately, due to what appears to be completely irresponsible merchandising, there is nowhere in Scotland where he can get servicing. The bike (which admittedly was purchased second hand) has a fault with its gears. No cycle repair engineer I have taken it to has ever seen anything like it! No Mercededes Benz dealership knows anything about these bikes - with one stating "I didn't even know we made bikes" and another (Edinburgh) asserts that they have been discontinued- no longer being made. Yet another suggested that my grandson 'should have thought about this before buying'. What a ringing endorsement of the product! I may be old, but I'm like a dog with a bone when I sense unfairness and and feel that companies are not living up to their responsibilities and I will pursue this till I get some sort of resolution. Be warned Mercedes Benz!
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Rob Lang - 30/10/2015 14:38

Dear mr Savage, please can you send me your email address as there a very important issue I would like to disscuss with you regarding my C class thank you mr Lang.
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Kieran - 10/12/2015 21:27

Dear Mr Savage I have a problem with a brand new Mercedes c class AMG line the car is faulty. I am haveing real trouble with the customer service at Mercedes warrington. They are fobing me off I feel miss lead by them and am really unhappy it's starting to make my life hell. I would please be greatfull if you could helpe out withy problem thanks kieran
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Richard Tullett - 21/12/2015 16:28

I have had a total gearbox failure on a 3 and a half year old E class. The torque converter broke into tiny particles covering the gearbox with swarf and necessitated a new oil cooler total cos £5000. Because I did not take it to a MB outlet they will not entertain and consideration. If I took it to a dealer to diagnose gthey would not find anything like the original report made by the gearbox refurbisher I used. They will not accrpt reports from anybody other than MB.
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Sam Page - 11/03/2016 11:50

Dear Mr Savage. I took delivery of my 15 Plate A Class less than 12 months ago. In January 2016 it began to vibrate violently at speeds of 40-70 mph and it has been permanently in the dealership (Robinson's Mercedes-Benz Bury St Edmunds) since 3 February 2016. Customer care have told me that they can no longer help. The car has apparently had new drive shafts, engine mounts and suspension- these are the attempts by your technical team to repair the issue. None of these actions have resolved the issue. I am still paying a lease for this vehicle, i have not been able to drive to for 7 weeks. No one can tell me what is wrong with it/ when it may be fixed. I have been told by customer care and the dealer that it cannot be replaced- even though it is faulty and underivable. Mr Savage, what do you suggest should happen next and is the customer experience that should be expected by customers of a so called premium brand'?
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fed mercedes-benz customer - 10/05/2016 16:35

mercedes-benz DO NOT care about customers , targets money money money thats it . ive had the worst service ever abnd i will daily slag mercedes-benz for there terrible customer service . mercedes-benz retail , mercedes-benz customer service terrible ceo sort your staff out as they treat customers who pay thousands of pounds for cars like sh.t ! the staff have no reality over the value of money . you are goin to get to know me a lot for the service ive had .
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Fraser Ingram - 10/06/2016 10:48

Cant fix my gearbox, faulty since purchased 12 months ago. Not good enough!!! Having now to cancel holiday!!
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Barbara Carter - 31/08/2016 08:50

Dear Mr Savage Please would you supply me with your e-mail address as I have a complaint regarding my Mercedes-Benz car which is only two years old. Thank you.
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Netanel Galer - 28/10/2016 11:00

Dear Mr Savage I am a very loyal customer of Mercedes and bought in the last 10 years more than 10 cars Unfortunately last year bought a car which was defective as arrived and still issues.Could not drive it much .Please let me have your email address so I can put a proper complain as your customer service is appalling.
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Penelope Lockhart - 26/10/2017 10:12

Good morning I have a complaint about your Bristol branch can you send me a email so I can tell you about my experience as this needs your attention
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YASH SHAH - 27/10/2017 14:26

Not sure what mercedes are thinking when employing staff, but the parts department is a complete disaster, never answer calls on time, are laughing & chit chatting away, are extremely unproffesional, arrogant & cheeky over the phone.The service is so poor and I would prefer taking my business to eurocarparts. May I ad professionalism is out the window for this branch.
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Rhea Williams - 31/10/2017 12:19

I would be grateful for an email address or a phone number, please, so I can finally get something done about Mercedes. I fear I shall never have a mercedes again. Thank you.
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Richard Piercy - 08/11/2017 10:06

I have had the same issues with Mercedes Benz Customer Care Department (Incorrect name as they do not care) brought a CLS 250 Shooting brake new in December 2015, vehicle has now done 82000 miles and has been serviced on time every time at Mercedes Dealerships. Engine has blown and Mercedes says that it is external influences that caused 4 pistons to break. No good will from anyone, why aspire to a Mercedes and get disappointed. My wife drives a Kia Sportage (Both from new) she has had issues, but Kia just do it really right every time, perhaps Mercedes can learn something from the Kia brand.
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Peter watkins - 15/01/2018 20:18

Has anybody found out what is Gary Savages email is
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Robin Wood - 22/02/2018 16:47

Dear Gary. To be honest I have been told you wont reply but lets give you chance. I recently purchased a airpump for a clk this cost me Nearly £700. Now this part is made by bosch for Mercedes. Had I purchased this part direct from bosch the same part would of cost £266.00. I have asked your complaints department for a reason I have just paid just over £400 than I needed to. It does seem that your complaints department have absolute no idea with product knowledge and the reply from them is an absolute joke and far for a credit to your company. All I want to know why is there such a difference in price.
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Parbez - 05/04/2018 23:12

Hi having major issues with Mercedes Bedford since December 2017, the final straw was that a senior manager at Bedford today has shared my confidential data and given my mobile phone and address and name to a person who resides in my town who does not work at Mercedes; to intimidate or scare me or whatever intention it was, the convo briefly told me to leave the guy alone and walk away and it happens in life (refusal to do warranty). Told management at Mercedes Bedford and they are all terrible, no empathy and no show of effort to rectify. I could go on and on at the things they have done from insulting me in front of my wife to racist remarks to just playing mind games, in fact i say they but majority of it was the senior manager up until it became an issue yesterday in the show room then the manager of another department played good cop bad cop and done nothing to help other than repeat what was already said to me in February. At first glance, she seemed to care but i guess it was to keep me quiet and contain the situation in the show room. I am rushing to write this email as I have work in the morning and have been suffering from anxiety and stress and lack of sleep for past two days now.
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maria caldarella - 08/08/2018 14:33

Hello, i would like to talk to your office about the continued poor and disappointing customer service at your nottingham dealership. maybe someone could call me on 01159 372579. I have also emailed marcus breitschwerdt and will be informing motability that their customers are treated as second rate by your dealersip. thank you. maria caldarella Reg FM14 VWB
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Alexander - 07/09/2018 16:52

I will never use BM financial service company again. In fact it has even put me off MB completely. When it came to handing back the car after the two years, I had so much hassle with staff who were either under-trained, or had no idea what they were doing. I reckon over 50 telephone calls to many different people and then 3-4 months to try and get a complaint upheld. At the end I was offered £50 in compensation and the person hung the phone up. I received my final bill for extra wear and tear and paid it within a couple of days. A week later someone had the cheek to contact me to ask why I had not paid. I asked them to check and sent a copy of the transaction from my bank and not even an apology was given. There seems little investment in training and number of staff to handle the level of business and there is clearly no focus on repeat business from customers by the way I was treated. What a disgraceful way to treat a customer. I wonder if Mr Savage would like to look in to this complaint, or if he too like his staff simply doesn't care?
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D Montgomery - 07/09/2018 16:57

The more people who make complaints via social media (twitter etc) about this company and their spaulding service, the more chance there is of change as customers start to see the light and stop buying cars **edited for legal reasons*. Social media is a powerful way to change things if we all use it to our benefit as MB use their size and power to their benefit!
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Mark Wilkins - 04/02/2021 21:21

I would like to make a complaint about the cost of a repair on my car after a fault came up during a service visit. The car had no faults on it when it went in to Mercedes Macclesfield, but after the service was completed I was informed that a engine fault light had come on. I had to bring the car back the following day and leave it with them for a day so they could find the fault. I was informed that the fault was a simple relay not working, with a part cost of £8.55. I was then given a bill for £283.86 with all the labour costs with the part cost. I think the time it took to find a relay fault is extremely excessive, a time more like 10 minutes would have been more responsible and acceptable for a fully trained engineer. Now the Mercedes engineer has had is fault finding training on my car at my expense, I feel I am owed back some compensation for how I have been treated. I have been a long term customer of Mercedes and had a number of cars from your company, but this is something i need to re-think for the future. I have also been advised to put my experience on the national media via the internet, and this is something i am looking in to. I would appreciate your response to this matter, and how you think a long term customer should have been dealt with, and with the simple fact that the fault come up with the car whilst it was under the duty of care of Mercedes Macclesfield.
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Pauline Wroe - 16/02/2021 13:39

Hello, Mercedes, C220d AMG line premium---MV19EZW I didn`t realise that my own personal service record was a state top secret and “for Mercedes eyes only”. My car had its first s`A` service last September 2019. I wasn`t given a copy of what had been done to the car. I`ve recently been trying to get a print out / details of what the `A` service consists of and a dated service record. I contacted the garage but was that it was all on Mercedes computer records and they couldn`t let me know as I had to contact Customer Services. I contacted mercedes customer services but was told that I had to send them photographic ID evidence or passport and documentary proof of ownership as it was covered by the data privacy act or something---What a load of ---rubbish since when have car service records been secret. I don`t see why I should produce all these documents that you`ve asked for when I`ve graced Mercedes with almost £40,000 and then paid around £300 for a first service –which after all is nothing more than a glorified oil check and tyre pressure check, something that my husband could with no problem. Not only this but the fact that your agency failed to supply me with written proof of what is / has been done to my car for my £300+, this is your error, not mine. Also it now seems that despite the `A` test supposedly lasting for 20,000miles and my car being SORN for 6 months in a locked heated garage and having done zero miles, Mercedes inform me that it is due a `B` service in September which will cost £500 + and nobody will tell me what I get for my £500! I`ve no intention of selling the car for the foreseeable future so a “Mercedes Specific” service history is not of interest to me at your prices. I will take the car to the same garage I`ve used for 20+ years for other vehicles. All I need is confirmation of the first service which after all I paid £300 for and belongs to me with the car. You have the registration number so please send my service details. Mrs Pauline Wroe.
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