Mercedes opens Asia's first training center here

Mercedes-Benz Korea CEO Dimitris Psillakis speaks during a media event to celebrate the opening of the new Mercedes-Benz Training Center, in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. / Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Korea

By Park Jin-hai

Mercedes-Benz Korea opened its 25 billion won training center Friday, the company’s first in Asia.

It is the largest training center among the imported carmakers operating in Korea, and Mercedes’ third independent training center after Germany and France, the German luxury carmaker said.

“Today we have 37 service centers, three times more than 10 years ago,” said Mercedes-Benz Korea CEO Dimitris Psillakis at the new training center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. “By 2020, we will double the number. This big growth and our commitment to customer service dictate the need for a continued and complex personnel development plan, which calls for flexibility and capabilities to cope with the growing demand.”

The three-story training center, on 5,274 square meters of land, can train up to 12,000 people a year. Each floor has facilities that allow trainees to gain technical knowledge of passenger and commercial vehicle-related technologies as well as sales training.

There are 20 in-house trainers who will provide programs on automotive mechatronics, sales and a mobile academy. With the online education history management system, trainees can check on their progress while registering for online programs.

“The training center will be operated under the authorization of the German headquarters,” said Kim Jee-seop, vice president of Mercedes-Benz Korea. “The professional trainers will suggest a new paradigm in automotive training education here.”