Features
30 Aug 18

Christophe Vloebergh is CASE Implementation Manager in ME

From Client Acquisition Officer at Mercedes-Benz Cars Belgium Luxemburg to CASE Implementation Manager for the brand in the Middle East: Christophe Vloebergh is reaching for the stars. But how does Connected, Autonomous, Shared and especially Electric rhyme with petrophylia? We asked the Belgian 40-something.

1. Why this new challenge?

Since the start of my career at Mercedes-Benz Cars (1995), it has always been a dream to represent the brand with the star abroad. More than 20 years later the pieces of the puzzle suddenly came together, and it was a matter of taking the leap. Moreover, it is literally a true challenge: implementing CASE (Connected / Autonomous / Shared / Electric), in other words everything that has to do with the mobility of the future ... and that in the entire Middle East.

2. What does your new job entail?

The headquarters of Mercedes-Benz Cars Middle East is in Dubai. From here, my team and I will prepare 13 countries for this revolution in the automotive universe from A to Z. This means adjusting and / or renewing dealer contracts and infrastructure, training and motivating Sales and Aftersales people, setting up numerous marketing and PR activities, and of course lobbying with local authorities, network administrators and installers of charging infrastructure. All this in close consultation with Daimler AG in Stuttgart.

3. What makes the Middle East an interesting region for CASE?

The oil literally comes out of the ground here, but less so than before. So, arousing the local interest for E-mobility is very interesting in itself. Moreover, the region has been thinking in a very innovative and future-oriented way for decades. Dubai, for example, aims to achieve the lowest carbon footprint in the world by 2050. Once they have got their mind set on something… They always want to be the first and the best. Just look at the Burj Khalifa, with 828 metres by far the tallest skyscraper in the world. Construction of a new, even higher tower has already begun.

Picture copyright: menmagazine.fr, 2018

 

Authored by: Dieter Quartier