Zoho has announced the launch of SKYLine. A modern, bespoke, and decentralised dealer management system it developed in partnership with and for Mercedes-Benz India. The system aims to deliver dealers a localised system they can rely on. While maintaining centralised governance so Mercedes-Benz can ensure they follow its procedures and values.
The SKYLine dealer management system will enable dealerships to manage the customer journey from enquiry through to sale. And throughout the service life of the purchased car. Each customer journey can be personalised to suit the dealer and the customer. The platform delivers automation to streamline processes for dealers and better engage customers.
The platform offers real-time updates, quick turnaround, and a unified Customer Portal. With a 360° view of service history, invoices, and campaigns. Customers will feel more valued and have a deeper understanding of their car and of their relationship with Mercedes-Benz India and its representatives.
SKYLine is now live across every Mercedes-Benz India dealership. Each dealership has its own instance of Zoho CRM with added functionality. Thus, ensuring that the local dealership retains ownership of its customer data.
Santosh Iyer, Managing Director & CEO at Mercedes-Benz India, commented, “SKYLine represents a significant step towards managing our customer service operations, being a key lever that will significantly enhance customer’s experience.
“This bespoke DMS is built by Zoho for our dealer partners, making it seamless and highly integrated into our global systems, redefining customer journey. With SKYLine, we are setting a new benchmark in customer experience by blending technology with personalized service.
“We are proud that Zoho developed a world-class, highly secured and local ‘no code-no source’ platform like SKYLine for the Indian customers, underlining the unmatched prowess of Indian technological innovation, having international adaptability. SKYLine brings transparency, efficiency, and control into every service interaction, empowering customers, while delivering an elevated experience which they desire from Mercedes-Benz.”
The SKYLine project
Zoho’s Enterprise Business Solutions (EBS) team worked with Mercedes-Benz India to develop SKYLine. It is built on Zoho CRM alongside Zoho Qntrl, its enterprise automation and integration platform. It will enable Mercedes-Benz to offer dealers the ability to fully digitise their dealership operations.
It provides them with a unified backend and real-time data integration. Ultimately, it delivers dealerships enhanced operational efficiency, transparency, and a premium, brand-aligned experience for both customers and dealers. The project took 2 years to develop, and the final stages included 5,000 person-days of UAT and 3,000 person-days of training.
For Mercedes-Benz, it enables the company to deliver a consistent customer experience nationwide. It may also provide visibility into performance without compromising data security or privacy. The platform is also integrated with Mercedes-Benz corporate legacy systems via a transformation layer co-developed with Zoho that manages all downstream communications.
The middleware layer, developed using Qntrl, delivers real-time synchronisation across systems and regions using REST, SOAP, file-based, and other legacy protocols.
Mani Vembu, CEO, Zoho, commented, “SKYLine is a technology marvel born of close collaboration and co-creation. 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. Together, we have built a decentralised platform that empowers each dealership with autonomy, while maintaining central control and real-time HQ integration.
“To meet these complex needs, we co-developed middleware capabilities alongside our evolving Qntrl platform, enabling seamless communication across legacy protocols. This project reflects what’s possible when product teams and customers come together with a shared sense of purpose and a commitment to solving real-world challenges.”
Dealership benefits
Dealerships can now manage many of their day-to-day service booking, digital check-ins, vehicle inspections, job card creation, skill-based technician assignments, live job tracking, proactive communication, quality control, and post-service feedback collection.
Development has not stopped; the team continues to add functionality. The next iteration will include real-time approval of estimates.
The system replaces fragmented, paper-based systems and processes. The SKYLine system supports a wide range of options, including courtesy car management, pre-owned vehicle refurbishment, and resale. It automates the process, making information requests electronically and ensuring that data does not need to be rekeyed.
For courtesy car options, the dealership can quickly identify whether a car is available using a visual dashboard. The pre-owned functionality centralises one of the fastest-growing business segments.
The platform also includes embedded analytics that provide real-time insights to both dealership managers and OEM stakeholders, enabling informed, data-driven decisions.
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
This is one of the largest and most complex dealership systems ever built. The solution also reflects the best of Indian technological innovation: ‘Made in India, for India’. What is not clear is whether Zoho can resell this solution. Will it offer a more generic dealership management system to other car manufacturers, both in India and abroad? This is the latest solution that Zoho has developed that follows a vertical rather than horizontal strategy. Are there more in the works?
There will clearly be work required. However, if other manufacturers, especially in the luxury car market, see Mercedes-Benz India gaining a significant benefit from this platform, they may want something similar.
It is still early days for SKYLine, though. It will be interesting to see what dealerships think of the platform and what benefits they gain from it. Also, this is a huge feather in Zoho’s cap as a decentralised sales platform built on Zoho CRM. There will be other industries that might now consider Zoho for similar platforms.
