MERCEDES-BENZ hopes to make a marque with shoppers by opening its first British showroom in a retail centre. The famous German car maker has created 17 jobs by choosing Bluewater at Greenhithe for an interesting experiment in car selling.

It is going to the people rather than wait for them to come through the doors of an out-of-town showroom.

If the experiment works, it has plans to open showrooms at other large shopping centres across the country.

“We are challenging the way car retailing has been done by most dealers,” said Geoff Brady, managing director of Daimler Chrysler.