BMW

How many Mercedes staff does it take to sell a car? The answer, in the luxury carmaker's German showrooms, is more than it takes to shift an Audi - just part of the cost gap Daimler wants to close with its premium rivals.Among the top three, Mercedes depends on its unprofitable company-owned dealerships for a bigger share of domestic sales than either Volkswagen's Audi or BMW, which rely more on franchises.Now, according to documents seen by Reuters, Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche is targeting the company's "own retail" operations as part of a promised 2 billion euro ($2.6 billion) savings drive.Daimler, already in talks to sell four German outlets, could mount a bigger sell-off if those transactions go well, a person familiar with the company's thinking told Reuters."Management wants to try this out to see exactly how it would work in practice," said the person, who asked not to be named."They are gathering experience that could serve as a blueprint," he said, adding "Zetsche is no fa...

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